So public transport users have supported the system by paying for it, now it will be free for motorists? Why? Because they will be suffering?
It’s cool that there is extra capacity available, but why isn’t it being used to reduce the current overcrowding on peak services?
It’s amusing that Labor politicians have this privileged way of thinking.
“The schmucks who use it every day can eat a bag of dicks, but those unaccustomed to public transport will require a softer cushion to ease their pain.”
Increasing capacity and improving safety so everyone can use the system and save money would be a more honest approach. This feels like PR.
@kentparkstreet1 and just like pausing mutual obligation during covid, when this fuel crisis us over, we'll go back to charging for "public" transport.
If there's one thing all #australia can come together on, it's that "beating poor people with sticks" is the national sport. We bloody love that shit. Better still if they're disabled and/or brown.
Asked my work for an Opal (aka Myki, Oyster etc) card instead of a Fuel Card. Their response? Laughter and incomprehension. Why would I, a rich able-bodied white person, want to beat MYSELF with STICKS? Madness, it's #UnAustralian .
We could double unemployment benefit when nice middle class people needed it.
I get that from a Tory government. I guess we have Tory Labor government now.
@kentparkstreet1 To me, this looks like one of those things that the government should be doing all along. Doing it now shows they _can_ do it. So, why wait for a severe situation? And, why flag it as only temporary? They know they can make it the norm.
Earlier in the COVID pandemic, we saw a bunch of other "emergency" measures that were temporary, and have mostly been wound-back, but could and should be permanent, such as:
- Work from home no questions asked, and no forced days in the office.
- Staying out of the office or public gatherings if you're sick and going to make other people sick.
- Government payments to unemployed people doubled, so people out of work had a more livable income near the poverty-line instead of drowning in debt and being forced to go without essentials.
To get back to free public transport being permanent — it would have beneficial improvements to quality of life, such as:
- Cutting air-pollution from vehicle emissions.
- Reducing road noise in residential areas.
- Sparing drivers/cyclists/pedestrians from injuries/deaths from motor vehicle crashes.
- Shashing the political power of the motoring lobby.
- Educating people about it's bizarre that we "need" to waste so much usable land on carparks.
- Improvements to non-car transport infrastructure such as buses, trains, and cycling lanes.
- Fixing the social snobbery and political divide that puts a wedge between public transport commuters and car commuters.
This all requires long term planning. Right now trams in the city are banked up, they can’t run more. Trains could be run more often, but not until all the level crossings are gone.
We’d also have to rewrite public/private contracts.
I agree, all this can be done, but it’s probably a five year project.
I doubt they have the capacity to increase services. If they do, why are our current peak services so crowded?
I don’t see the reason for making it free? Why not try to expand services to cater to an increase of use due to petrol prices? Why do people need more incentive?
@kentparkstreet1 People need incentive to change habits.
If they cannot increase capacity, then that is a very stupid, badly-planned solution that is going to frustrate everyone.
@ewen @kentparkstreet1 If you are used to the convenience of a car, with your own music, your own schedule, quieter, no crowds shoving and lining up, no mass exposure to covid and flu viruses, then the extra push of "try this, it's free for a while" might have more folk give it a try. A car in traffic is still more comfortable than a crowded public transit car.
Doing this without first considering impact on service and planning for it, though, is ill-advised.
@kentparkstreet1 @ewen It seems it will be free to everyone?
So consider this a reward.
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