Public Transport will cost 50 cents in Queensland regardless of the distance. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
The Queensland government is temporarily reducing public transport fares to 50 cents for all commuters in the state in an effort to ease the cost-of-living pressures and congested roads.
From August 5, the new fare will charge only 50 cents for each trip on a train, bus, and ferry — regardless of the distance.
The initiative will be introduced in a six-months trial with a campaign emphasising the message: “use it or lose it”.
“If it doesn’t work … it won’t continue,” said Premier Steven Miles in an announcement on Sunday.
The price drop will “help out so much” says Donna Douthwaite, who spends around $90 a week traveling from the Gold Coast to Brisbane for work.
It typically costs around $14.55 to travel one way across three zones on TransLink during peak times, costing the average individual $145.50 for a return journey for the whole workweek.
This price will only cost $5 a week from August 5, saving commuters $140.50 a week.
Miles says slashing prices will save Queenslanders “thousands of dollars” and will help “bust congestion”.
“Public transport usage has never returned to its pre-COVID levels and that’s one of the things contributing to congestion, particularly in the south-east,” said Miles.
“Fifty-cent fares will give people a reason to rethink their habits, a reason to go back to public transport when they can, and everyone benefits from that.”
Every bus on the road is equivalent to 50 cars off it, and every train takes 600 cars off the road, estimates Deputy Premier Cameron Dick.
The government projects that this initiative will also help the consumer price index for inflation and transport go down in the second half of 2024.
