There are pros and cons in store for public transport users in Sydney and surrounding areas, with a final set of recommendations for a new pricing scheme released on Tuesday.
IPART, the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal, has completed its major review of public transport fares on the Opal smart ticketing system, used on buses, trains, ferries and light rail in Sydney and surrounding networks.
The tribunal’s final recommendations set out the terms for Opal ticketing from July 1, 2016, to June 30, 2019.
The major piece of good news for commuters is a $2 rebate will be given to Opal users when they switch between trains, buses, ferries or light rail on the same journey.
Under the current system, commuters are charged separate full fares when they switch between different modes of transport on a multi-leg journey.
In earlier drafts of this review, IPART recommended such journeys be rolled together and charged as a single trip.
But following advice from Transport for NSW that such a change would take more than three years to implement, the tribunal has recommended a $2 rebate system instead.
Another piece of good news: The existing off-peak discount for train fares will be increased from 30% to 40%.
Weekend travellers will benefit somewhat from another recommendation, which will see a lower $7.20 cap on travel on Saturdays (down from $15).
And now the bad news.
The new system will see commuters given just a 50% discount on travel after their first eight journeys each week.
This will, for most commuters, be an improvement on an earlier recommendation during this IPART review, which suggested customers pay for their ten most expensive journeys every week, and get the rest for free.
But it is certainly a downgrade on the existing system, which sees commuters get every journey free after their first eight each week.
Another piece of bad news – albeit more procedural – is that IPART recommended fares increase by 4.2% per annum over the next three years.
On top of that, the tribunal has recommended increasing the Adult daily cap on travel from $15 (Monday to Saturday) to $18 (Monday to Friday) – a change which will negatively impact some longer-commuting Monday-Friday workers.
It also recommended increasing the Sunday travel cap from $2.50 across the board to $7.50 for Adult card holders.
And seniors using the Gold Opal Card will now have their daily travel cap increased from $2.50 to $3.60.
IPART chairman Dr Peter Boxall said the recommendations were aimed at creating a more efficient, integrated transport system.
“Right now, the efficient cost of providing the rail, bus, ferry and light rail services in Sydney and surrounding areas is around $4.8 billion a year,” he explained.
“While operating costs per trip are reducing overall, total efficient costs will rise to around $5.6 billion a year by 2018/19.”
Boxall said some fare increases are therefore required to ensure rising costs are not borne entirely by taxpayers, but by those who use public transport the most.
“This determination means that fares will continue to cover around 25% of efficient costs, with taxpayers funding the remaining 75% reflecting the benefits public transport provides to the whole community such as reduced congestion and cleaner air.”
Opal is used on rail, bus, ferry and light rail services in Sydney, Newcastle, the Central Coast, Wollongong, the Blue Mountains and the Hunter.
The final decision on how individual fares will change under the tribunal’s determination will be made by the NSW Government.