Public Transport use declining rapidly in SA

[Sojourner]

Interesting article in todays paper rolling out figures to show that the number of people using public transport is dropping heavilly in SA. Considering all the recent talk about the Carbon Tax and the end goal being the reduction of Carbon emissions, one would think that getting people onto public transport would be a part of achieving that goal.

I think the issue is not so much safety related as the fact of how long it takes over using the car to get anywhere, especially if you have to change buses.

I was told in the past that the OBahn actually makes money for Trans Adelaide because so many use it and at $3 a go for a 15 minute trip some of the runs are a good money spinner for the State Government.

I think the main issue is the acutal infrastructure, simply putting a bus into peak hour traffic with constant stops on an off is a pretty slow process to get anywhere. The goal should be bus lanes and bus lights as well as extentions to things like the Tonsley line going through to Flinders and the Trams going dowm Morphett Rd to Marion Shops and so on. If the State Government is prepared to invest into new infrastructure they can easilly turn it around, if they keep burying their heads in the sand the problem will simply continue.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/commuters ... 6129282381

[Psyber]

I agree Sojourner.
My Seniors' card gets me free public transport, but I rarely use it because it takes too long to get where you are going compared with the car.
The time cost is multiplied if you are making several stops, which I usually do - I prefer to do all required business on the Adelaide plains on one day rather than go several times.

[Dog_ger]

Public transport in SA is fine if you have time to spare.

No-where to go in a hurry.

I think the biggest downfall is waiting for your bus.

With nothing to do.

If your in your own car, you are busy driving.

Eliminating the boredom. And the stagnation of waiting at the bus stop...

[gossipgirl]

obahn works pretty quickly but the govt keeps increasing price tickets every year.

[tipper]

my biggest problem with public transport, is that if you want top go anywhere other than town you are screwed, or if you want to go a different direction to "peak hour" you are also screwed....

a few weeks ago we had a party to go to at the bombay bicycle club, and then probably head into town. awesome i thought, bus to mawson lakes, then train into the bombay, there is a train stop about 100m away. well, cos we wanted to go in the afternoon, the timetable was set up top get people out of town. the bus we would catch got to mawson lakes a couple of minutes AFTER the train heading to town went through, so we had nearly an hour wait till the next train, which turned up a few minutes before the next bus.... surely it isnt too hard to have the busses arrive just before the train, and not leave till after the train turns up so it can service both sets of pasengers?

in short, the timetables seem like they were designed by my 2 year old daughter, and turn what should be a 20 minute journey into a 2 hour one, unless you are using the obarn into town.

[GWW]

About time they outlawed people who listen to music through earphones that can still be heard by others; people who put their bag on a spare seat next to them; people who eat garlic for breakfast.

[gadj1976]

Don't get me wrong, the O'Bahn is sensational, by far and away the best public transport in Adelaide. But I do think public transport should be cheaper. It costs me $6.18 a day to go to and from work. The problem being, the majority of people who use it pay the most. if they want people to use the thing, drop the price.

BTW, Transfield Services are just about to take over from TransAdelaide out in the NE suburbs (as I understand it).

[tipper]

meanwhile hiring the odd guard to check tickets wouldnt kill them. i am forced to catch thee train for one day a week, tuesday arvo from adelaide to parafield. everyone that i see get on at adelaide validates a ticket (no way to know if it is valid for them or not) but the passengers that get on at the stations in between? i would confidently say that of the [assengers i see, fewer than 50% would validate at all. how many trips and therefore revenue, does that account for each financial year i wonder?

[dedja]

My car's off the road for a few days so I've had to catch the bus ... faark I hate it, and that's even when most of the journey is on the O'Bahn.

$4.70 for a single trip, $30.90 for a multitrip ... my car park in the city is much cheaper than that

[RustyCage]

How much to park in the city per day?

[ca]

I use the tram a lot and I think its a great service. I do agree that the cost is to much in comparison to parking.

[Zorro]

My car's off the road for a few days so I've had to catch the bus ... faark I hate it, and that's even when most of the journey is on the O'Bahn.

$4.70 for a single trip, $30.90 for a multitrip ... my car park in the city is much cheaper than that

whereabouts do you park for less than $30 per week?

[dedja]

It's not a commercial rate ... you don't get much change from $200 for the cheapest monthly park in the city these days.

[Drop Bear]

My car's off the road for a few days so I've had to catch the bus ... faark I hate it, and that's even when most of the journey is on the O'Bahn.

$4.70 for a single trip, $30.90 for a multitrip ... my car park in the city is much cheaper than that

I was in the same boat when my car was stuffed. The bright sparks should make the pricing per zone like in QLD.
$9.40 and I'm only on the bus for 30 mins.

[Sojourner]

Apparently South Australia is the only state to charge Peak Hour Ticket Prices for Weekend Travel...

[Dissident]

Unless you car-pool, public transport is almost always cheaper.

I drive to TTP every morning, walk through the shop past the mall-walkers, get on a bus in 2 minutes, get to work 20 minutes later. Then I can get any TTP-bound bus in the afternoon back again.

[gossipgirl]

should provide dancing girls on each trip as entertainment. buses would be packed

[gadj1976]

Unless you car-pool, public transport is almost always cheaper.

I drive to TTP every morning, walk through the shop past the mall-walkers, get on a bus in 2 minutes, get to work 20 minutes later. Then I can get any TTP-bound bus in the afternoon back again.

have you got parking tickets Diss? Last I saw/heard they were being handed out at a rate of knots.

[Dissident]

Too many.
At one stage I had 20 unpaid

But I was being lazy, and parking right next to the track. Now I park on the other side of TTP, and walk through it - haven't had one for ages.

Annoys me that people using Klemzig or Paradise don't have to pay for parking.

In saying that, the place I work in is currently redesigning Klemzig for more parking etc, along with (eventually) TTP/Paradise.