The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) is seeking community views about future Opal fares for public transport in Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, the Hunter and Illawarra.
IPART Chair, Paul Paterson said the Tribunal was looking at how to best set maximum annual fares, which will apply from July 2020 to June 2024.
“The NSW Government decides what actual fares will be within the maximums set by IPART,” Dr Paterson said.
“Feedback is now being sought on proposals released last month that would allow for a maximum annual increase of five per cent (about 30 cents) for single trips across all train, bus, light rail, metro and ferry services,” he said.
“IPART proposed the increase to single fares to provide the Government with more options to provide discounts to more regular transport users and off-peak fares to bus and light rail services without impacting the sustainability of transport services.”
Dr Paterson said fare revenue accounted for around a quarter of the cost of providing public transport with the remainder funded by taxpayers.
He encouraged both regular and occasional public transport passengers, as well as transport providers, and taxpayers of NSW to attend a public hearing at IPART’s offices on 11 February.
Further information on the public hearing and how to make an online submission can be accessed on IPART’s website at this PS News link.
