Honest public transport users will benefit from savings of more than $200,000 per year after changes were made to the refundable deposit on adult go cards.
In May 2013, the refundable deposit on adult go cards was increased from $5 to $10 to close a loophole that saw people deliberately running the balance below $5 and then disposing of the card.
Transport and Main Roads Minister Scott Emerson said the savings would be reinvested back into the public transport network.
“Queensland passengers are reaping the benefits from the Queensland Government’s efforts to fix Labor’s public transport mess,” Mr Emerson said.
“Since we increased the refundable deposit to $10 there are now 20 per cent less cards falling below the negative threshold, particularly on the Airport line.
“Research showed thousands of people across the network misused their go card by running their balance below the $5 deposit and then disposing of the card.
“Savings from closing this loophole will be reinvested back into the network.”
The loophole that led to rorting of the system grew when the former Labor Government reduced the go card deposit in December 2009 – before the first of their five scheduled 15 per cent fare increases.
“We’ve halved Labor’s increases, provided free travel after nine weekly journeys and have added more than 1,000 additional weekly train services and 2,000 additional weekly bus services,” Mr Emerson said.
“For the first time ever we have released daily on-time running figures showing reliability continues to improve.
“All day on-time running was more than 95 per cent in the January to March quarter, compared to more than 88 per cent during the last few months under Labor and former Transport Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk.
“This performance improvement has been due to efforts of Queensland Rail staff.”
