Mastodawn

The Australian states of Victoria and Tasmania are trying out a fare-free transit period to reduce fuel consumption.

I'm interested to see future data how much this drives up regional bus and train usage during this oil shock. Will people who don't usually take transit try it out, then continue using it if they like it? We'll see, in any case, Canadian agencies should take note of the results.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/mar/29/victoria-free-public-transport-april-petrol-prices

#transit #carfree #oil #Australia #Melbourne #trains #bus

Victorians and Tasmanians get free public transport as state governments seek to ease surge in fuel demand

Allan government says measure is temporary as energy shock from Middle East conflict sees petrol prices soar

The Guardian

Show thread

Ben Lever 2d ago

@allen I think part of the problem is, it might be difficult to disentangle the effect of free fares from the effect of the fuel price spike. I'd have expected PT's mode share to increase next month even if they hadn't cut the fares! (Not to mention, without fare data it'll be hard for the government to even collect accurate ridership stats)

Show thread

allen 2d ago

@BenLeverAU
Not having the same quality of ticket/tap data is a challenge for sure.

I wrote in my other reply that the effect of just making it free has been studied, now, there's an additional external cost pressure driving people away from cars. On disentangling the two, there must be comparable peer regions that don't implement free fares to give us at least a rough idea.

Show thread

Ben Lever

@allen yes, possibly. I figured once these two states went, the others would soon follow, which would prevent comparisons between Australian states. But since I posted that, NSW has said they won't be following - so if they stick to that, we might be able to compare.