My adjournment matter this evening is for the Minister for Public Transport, Mr Mulder, and it is in relation to the use and future availability of short-term tickets for Geelong residents using local bus services. The minister should be aware that over 60 per cent of passengers using the Geelong bus network purchase short-term tickets when travelling on the service. I understand that the Geelong branch of the Public Transport Users Association has written to the minister stating its desire for the short-term ticket option to remain available. The Public Transport Users Association acknowledges that the current ticketing system is uneconomical, with each ticket costing approximately 35 cents to produce, but it has suggested a thermal printing system, which I am informed is already in the bus driver’s myki console.
While the thermally printed ticket will not provide passengers with the same range of options as a myki card, the short-term ticket option should be made available. If the Baillieu government proceeds with its decision to abolish all short-term tickets, Victoria will stand alone as the only smart ticket system in the world that does not provide the option of short-term tickets for public transport users.
I note that the Deloitte study into the myki system still has not been released by the Baillieu government, so the action I seek from the minister is for him to provide short-term ticket options for infrequent transport users in the Geelong region and also in wider regional Victoria.