A Productivity Commission (PC) report on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Australia’s public transport services has revealed serious falls in patronage and revenues across all Australian cities.
However, the Public transport pricing – Research paper Report warns operators not to make “knee-jerk reactions like free travel or big fare reductions”.
In its Report, the Commission finds that COVID-19 had “decimated” public transport patronage and revenue in all Australian cities.
Chair of the PC, Michael Brennan said the recovery period provided time for State and Territory Governments to re-think how they priced and delivered sustainable public transport services.
“The Report provides a roadmap for this, while highlighting the pitfalls of some populist pricing approaches,” Mr Brennan said.
He said public transport was essential to cities, but its pricing had been ad hoc.
“Fares have not been particularly equitable or efficient and have not kept pace even with the recurrent costs of running our public transport systems,” Mr Brennan said.
“That has put service quality and frequency at risk, and these are the things that matter most to the users of the system.”
Commissioner at the PC, Paul Lindwall said the disruption arising from COVID-19 provided an opportunity to rethink fare levels and structures, and the targeting of concessions, but big, across-the-board fare reductions or free public transport would be a mistake.
“It would have only a small impact on public transport use and even less impact on road congestion; it would not necessarily benefit those most in need, but would come at a huge cost to State budgets,” Mr Lindwall said.
He said the Report called for thought to be given to higher peak fares, shorter peak periods and differential pricing by transport mode.
Mr Lindwall said fares for buses should be lower than trains and trams to reflect their much cheaper running costs.
The Commission’s 208-page Report can be accessed at this PS News link.
