Australia’s Public Transport Fares Are Changing (Again)

Australia’s public transport authorities have announced a spate of fare changes for 2015. While some states received the expected fare hike, others have frozen or decreased their prices. Read on to find out how much you’ll be losing — or saving.

NSW

Train and ferry Opal fares have been adjusted to fall in line with the cost of living/CPI only. This translates to an increase of 2.5 per cent, including senior and child/youth fares. For example, an adult trip on Opal of 10-20km will now set you back $4.20; an increase of ten cents.

Paper ticket prices will also receive the 2.5 per cent increase, although there are a handful of exempted tickets, which are listed below:

  • Family Funday Sunday
  • Pensioner Excursion, Country Pensioner Excursion and Regional Excursion Daily
  • Special event bus services (Moore Park & Randwick Racecourse shuttle)
  • MyBus3 concession single
  • Newcastle Stockton ferry adult & concession single

Bus and light rail Opal fares as well as daily/weekly caps ($15 and $60, respectively) will not increase, however. For more information, head to Transport NSW.

Victoria

Public transport fares across Victoria will rise by an average of 2.5 per cent, plus Consumer Price Index (CPI) of 2.3 per cent. However, prices have also fallen for some travelers thanks to the new Free Tram Zone and cheaper tram, bus and train fares when travelling across Zones 1 and 2.

The Free Tram Zone includes the area from Queen Victoria Market, Victoria Harbour in Docklands, Spring Street to Flinders Street Station and Federation Square. In addition, customers can now travel across Zones 1 and 2 for the price of a Zone 1 fare.

According to Transport Victoria, a commuter who pays for a Zone 1 + 2 ticket each day will save around $1,200 each year, while a customer who buys an annual myki pass will save over $750. There’s also no increase to Early Bird fares.

If your myki Zone 1 and 2 pass is paid up beyond 1 January 2015, a reimbursement for the Zone 2 component of the pass will be available. For more information, head to Public Transport Victoria.

Queensland

The state government has frozen public transport fares across Queensland for 2015. Fares were initially slated to increase by 2.5 per cent in line with the other major cities, but this decision has since been scrapped. For more information, head to the TransLink website.

Western Australia

Perth is one of the few capital cities where fares have actually decreased across the board; albeit nominally. In 2012 the Western Australian government introduced above-inflation increases to train, bus and ferry fares in response to the carbon tax. This price hike has since been removed, resulting in fare reductions of about 10 cents per ticket. For more information, head to the TransPerth website.

South Australia

Multitrip tickets have been discontinued. Unused trips can be transferred to a Metrocard before 28 February 2015 at an Adelaide Metro InfoCentre. Head to Adelaide Metro for more information.

Canberra

Most MyWay fares for ACTION buses have increased by an average of 2.5 per cent to reflect the cost of transport improvements (it says here). Off peak concession fares have also been hit with an additional increase, in line with the ACT Government strategy to “progressively align concession entitlements with other jurisdictions”.

A standard MyWay fare has increased from $2.84 to $2.91 while concession MyWay fares have risen from $1.41 to $1.45. Standard bus cash fares have also jumped to $4.60; an increase of 10 cents. Off-peak concession fares increased by 30 per cent to 81 cents.

Tasmania

As of 5 January 2015, adult fares for short trips have increased by 10 cents, medium trips by 20 cents and long journeys by 30 cents. The majority of student and concession fares are 10 cents more expensive per trip. The Greencard daily peak cap for concession holders has also increased by 20 cents.

Fare increases for the Channel are 10 cents for zones 1 & 2 and 30 cents for zone 3 while fares for South Arm, Wynyard and Ulverstone will go up by 20 cents for the local zone, 10 cents for zone 1, 40 cents for zone 2 and 80 cents for zone 3. Head to MetroTas for more information.


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