Because the design of the public transport fare system for SE QLD is Brisbane CBD-centric fare prices for travelling very locally around our suburbs are inconsistently high.
For example if you live in Upper Kedron or Ferny Grove and you want to buy a stamp for a parcel to send overseas and you travel to the post office at either Great Western Shopping Centre Keperra or KMart Arana Shopping Centre Arana Hills you will need to pay for 2 zones each way.
The travel distance involved is small – 3-4 kms at most.
We don’t have a post office in Ferny Grove since the post office at Ferny Hills was closed.
Same for banks if you need to deposit a cheque.
Residents of Upper Kedron are naturally unhappy about having to pay an extra fare zone to get home on the bus from the Ferny Grove Station.
Basically the design of Translink’s fares is focused on commuters to the CBD. They completely miss the point of it being better if people live and travel locally. It would be best if fares had more relationship to distance travelled and if local transport within a small area was never more than one zone.
Here’s an idea: How about making local travel within one zone FREE.
But it needs work to build into the Translink fare structure a mechanism for LOCAL for people to be able to travel very locally and for that to be ONE zone.
It would make a profound difference to public transport if it developed a LOCAL focus rather than primarily a ‘getting commuters into and home from the CBD’ focus.