Media Release Media Release Media Release Media Release Media Releas
Newcastle Greens
23 February 2011
Labor stuck in sad loop on Newcastle bus system
The Greens candidate for Newcastle, John Sutton, welcomed the announcement today by the Labor member for Newcastle, Jodi McKay, not to scrap the city’s fare-free zone, but said that the new bus loop service between Hamilton and the CBD was a second-rate and expensive election gimmick.
“Newcastle commuters will be pleased that the government has responded to calls from The Greens not to scrap the fare-free zone, as proposed in its recent TMAP (Transport Management and Accessibility Plan),” Mr Sutton said.
“But much more could be done to improve Newcastle’s public transport system for a fraction of the $500,000 that will be spent on the new Hamilton-Newcastle bus loop service.
“For much less - and using existing spare bus capacity - the current CBD fare-free zone (FFZ) could be extended to cover all bus services to and along Beaumont St, as well as to Darby and Union Streets, including:
· Removal of existing FFZ time restrictions [currently 7.30am - 6pm]
· Extension of FFZ to Beaumont St along Maitland Rd, Parry St and Tudor St using existing bus services
· Extension of FFZ to The Junction along Darby and Union St
· Making the entire Route 201 fare free - servicing areas between Hamilton, Merewether, Bar Beach, The Hill and the CBD to Marketown.
“These initiatives would carry many more passengers, generate far more 'new' passengers at lower cost, and – unlike Ms McKay’s new loop service – would actually help achieve the government’s public transport targets.
“Comments by Ms McKay in the local media today again raise questions about Ms McKay’s understanding and seriousness about reaching Labor’s own public transport targets for Newcastle.
“On ABC radio this morning, Ms McKay stated that the new bus loop “is a way we can help meet that state plan target of 20 per cent of trips (on public transport) at peak hours by 2016” (see: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/02/23/3146187.htm?site=newcastle§ion=news&date=%28none%29).
“In fact, the new service will do no such thing, because – as Ms McKay’s own media release states – the service will be confined to between 9am and 3pm on weekdays (and 9am to 6pm on weekends) and will not even operate during peak hours.
“Contrary to Ms McKay’s claim, the new loop service will contribute nothing at all to achieving the peak hour journey to work targets for Newcastle in Labor’s State Plan.”
Mr Sutton also questioned the patronage forecast figures for the new service, and called on Ms McKay to release the patronage assessment.
“Ms McKay claims to have worked with the Hunter Business Chamber and the Newcastle Tourism Industry Group on this service, but apparently has not even consulted the Hunter Commuter Council, the state government’s own established advisory body for such matters,” Mr Sutton said.
“Newcastle voters are being offered very low quality pork in Ms McKay’s election barrel, and informed voters will see through the spin on the new loop service as yet another Labor failure to deliver efficient and effective public transport,” he said.
How does Labor’s new bus loop service compare to the Fare Free Zone?
|
| Passengers per year | Cost for trial year | Cost per passenger |
| Labor’s new bus loop | 390,000 | $500,000 | $1.28c |
| Fare Free zone | 1,560,000 | $390,000 | $0.25c |
The Greens’ extended fare free zone model would have similar costs, and – as the table above demonstrates – would be a much more efficient use of valuable public money than the new bus loop.
