Fare hikes hurt commuters and climate

Hot on the heels of its hugely unpopular privatisation plans, the Queensland government has waded into more trouble. It announced plans to ramp up the cost of public transport in a five-year plan starting January 2010.

Under the guise of encouraging take-up of the error-riddled "Go Card" ticket system, paper ticket fares will rise by a staggering 40%. Go Card users will be slugged with a hike of about 20%.

The initial rises will be followed with annual increases of about 15% for four years.

Translink chief Peter Strachan said the fare increase was needed to invest in new infrastructure to create a "world class" transport system.

Meanwhile, the October 17 Courier Mail said taxpayers continue to fund free lifetime rail gold passes for more than 60 former Queensland Rail executives and 177 current and former politicians at a cost of $88,000 in the past two years.

Low-income workers, pensioners, youth and students will be hardest hit by the fare rises. Queenslanders have already faced electricity rises of up to 50% since July 2007, a fuel tax rise of 9.2 cents a litre, car registration increases of 17-22% and skyrocketing grocery bills.

The other big hike is likely to be Queensland's carbon emissions as thousands of commuters are pushed off more expensive public transport into private vehicles.

From GLW issue 815