26 September 2023

Record numbers take a ticket to ride

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The Department of Transport and Main Roads has reported that on 3 February this year South-East Queensland recorded the most trips on public transport in a single day since the first COVID-19 measures were introduced in March last year.

The Department said that on that day more than 460,000 trips were taken on buses, trains, trams and ferries — just 27 per cent below the same time last year.

Minister for Transport and Main Roads, Mark Bailey said patronage had fallen by as much as 80 per cent in 2020 as people stayed home and helped to manage the health impacts of the pandemic.

“Unlike places in the United States, Europe and the United Kingdom, here in Queensland people are returning to the workplace and school because we’ve been strong and swift in our response to COVID-19,” Mr Bailey said.

“We’ve ramped up cleaning of vehicles and stations, we’ve introduced cashless payment where possible and added more services during the pandemic to accommodate social distancing.”

He said the continued rebound in patronage showed confidence in those measures, which also included an additional 105 train services introduced and made permanent, while hundreds of additional bus services were added to the network.

“We’ve since added a service capacity tracker on the TransLink website which gives commuters an idea on whether there are seats available on their bus, tram, train or ferry, or whether they might want to take the next service just a few minutes later,” Mr Bailey said.

He urged commuters to remember to play their part by doing things like keeping up social distancing where possible, to bring a mask to wear if social distancing wasn’t possible, and regularly washing their hands or using hand sanitiser.

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