"STOP Opal Card fare surge in NSW" - Our salary doesn't increase 100% in one year
The issue
Only in NSW... Our salary doesn't increase 100% in one year but they established to increase 100% the cost of transport because they got the monopoly.
From $1,632 to $3,120 per year per person with NO MORE FREE TRIPS from 5 September 2016 and without an option for monthly and yearly passes at a convenient price for commuters....and almost $3,900 starting from 17 July next year onward.
In every other modern city (London, Tokyo, Rome, Milan, etc.) the Government offers multiple options.
Usually daily, weekly, monthly and yearly passes at a convenient price for buses only, trains only, ferries only or a combination of 2 or all of them and also based on a distance mode.
Plus cheaper concessions for: Apprentice, 18+ Student, 16+, 11-15, Under 11s, Jobcentre Plus, Seniors, Groups, etc.
Governments around the world reward committed commuters with convenient long term passes/concessions but NOT in NSW
The same should be done in Sydney instead of multiplying the weekly spending times 52. This is a cruelty and an abnormality.
Please help to stop this discrimination based on a daily and weekly cap only (page 5 - IPART review)
With the previous system, an yearly commuter was going to spend a maximum of $1632 up to $2311 (MyMulti ticket) means between $4.47 and $6.33 per day.
With the new system and "NO TICKET OPTIONS" we are up to a maximum of $3120 per person per year already and $3900 starting from 2017 after the IPART review. This is more than 100% of the previous average and a disgrace when the Opal supposed to be our friend.
The current system is already quite expensive compared to the previous one. See below our previous system: http://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/b2b/bus/smbsc-schedule-7-amended-for-retired-tickets.pdf
and because of the IPART review, from July 2017 we are going to pay even more and up to $75 weekly cap (now they are saying $72 - page 14 IPART final report) instead of $60 and $20 daily cap instead of $15, without FREE TRIPS ...This is what is coming if we don't complain ...
Members of public have never been invited publicly to submit their review and view of the opal roll-out.
The IPART did it privately without advertising it properly and continuously per days/weeks via radio, tv, etc.
How much did we pay for this review?
Why someone should pay up to $60 a week = $3120 per year when previously was paying half? This is more than 4.2 per cent annually, well over the current rate of inflation.
Public transport supposed to be a service provided by the government and not a way to make an excessive profit from those who share a service and inconveniences with hundreds of other people.... that's why they should pay a symbolic price to use it not to finance other infrastructures because the government doesn't know where else can find the money.
It is called public transport because it is a shared service. If you go back and forth from work every day with 4 more mates sharing the same car with your own music, air con, and other comforts you still won't pay $19,500 per year ($3900 x 5). Think about how sharing with hundreds, etc.
You should be reminded that:
We don't have anymore discount for return tickets.
We don't have anymore monthly passes (3-6-12 months at a convenient price).
The glitch with the faulty poles is a different matter compared to those who honestly follow the rules for the 8 trips (1 hour between trips) and achieve the weekly reward.
The glitch with the poles was well known since mid-last year and someone has been waiting till now to use this as an excuse to support unfair changes instead of fixing it promptly.
From 5 September 2016 they are replacing the free trips reward with a 50% discount. Is this how they take advantage of the members of public when the free trips was a sweetener and one of the conditions to let people moving to the new system and compensate somehow their yearly spending?
There isn't a campaign to register the opal card and most of the travelers are not aware of their rights.
The only campaign has been done back to when the opal has been introduced
Most of the commuters don't notice (because they did set-up an automatic top up via credit card) or can't find the time to call 136 725 for a refund.
Those who register the card should receive an automatic email or message to their app saying that there was a default fare applied to their trip and if this is incorrect they should claim the refund. This would be honest.
How many default fares the public transport applied till now without refunding anyone?
Many card readers and opal cards are still malfunctioning and no one takes responsibility.
People on a holiday in Sydney leave here millions of dollars not being able to claim back their credit when they leave the Country.
There aren't physical kiosks to lodge a formal complaint, neither at the head Office (18 Lee street - Chippendale ), but everything is managed by a customer centre somewhere. They simply ask you to refer to the website to write a complaint and no one comes back to you.
Transactions on the bus are in real-time but before being able to double check the fares for any mistake and seeing the trip in our opal app or checking the official opal activity using the new app called Opal Travel could even take hours.
For Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=au.com.opal.travel&hl=en
For iPhone: https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/opal-travel/id941006607?mt=8
Using the website: https://www.opal.com.au/ then login and select opal activity
We still have trains without air con
We still have train track-works every weekend and takes up to 3 times of the normal time to go from A to B.
George street is a mess and there are other street works everywhere around NSW.
Most of the other main streets to get out and come in to the city are congested at peak time (e.g.: bus from the north shore, etc.)
We still need to pay high fares to the airport.
Transfer fares only work between buses or trains but not if the commuters use a combination of both to reach a destination... and from 5 September they want to put a $2 reward that won't cover the faulty system, the unfair fare and the amount of extra money a year that commuters are going to spend.
Even without the above inconvenience, fares are still too expensive, weekly cap is too expensive, daily cap is too expensive. It is like Vodafone doubling up the price of my plan and for me not having any chance to change provider because there isn't another one and without appeal to anyone to take any action. That's exactly what they are doing with buses, trains and ferries.
The issue
Only in NSW... Our salary doesn't increase 100% in one year but they established to increase 100% the cost of transport because they got the monopoly.
From $1,632 to $3,120 per year per person with NO MORE FREE TRIPS from 5 September 2016 and without an option for monthly and yearly passes at a convenient price for commuters....and almost $3,900 starting from 17 July next year onward.
In every other modern city (London, Tokyo, Rome, Milan, etc.) the Government offers multiple options.
Usually daily, weekly, monthly and yearly passes at a convenient price for buses only, trains only, ferries only or a combination of 2 or all of them and also based on a distance mode.
Plus cheaper concessions for: Apprentice, 18+ Student, 16+, 11-15, Under 11s, Jobcentre Plus, Seniors, Groups, etc.
Governments around the world reward committed commuters with convenient long term passes/concessions but NOT in NSW
The same should be done in Sydney instead of multiplying the weekly spending times 52. This is a cruelty and an abnormality.
Please help to stop this discrimination based on a daily and weekly cap only (page 5 - IPART review)
With the previous system, an yearly commuter was going to spend a maximum of $1632 up to $2311 (MyMulti ticket) means between $4.47 and $6.33 per day.
With the new system and "NO TICKET OPTIONS" we are up to a maximum of $3120 per person per year already and $3900 starting from 2017 after the IPART review. This is more than 100% of the previous average and a disgrace when the Opal supposed to be our friend.
The current system is already quite expensive compared to the previous one. See below our previous system: http://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/b2b/bus/smbsc-schedule-7-amended-for-retired-tickets.pdf
and because of the IPART review, from July 2017 we are going to pay even more and up to $75 weekly cap (now they are saying $72 - page 14 IPART final report) instead of $60 and $20 daily cap instead of $15, without FREE TRIPS ...This is what is coming if we don't complain ...
Members of public have never been invited publicly to submit their review and view of the opal roll-out.
The IPART did it privately without advertising it properly and continuously per days/weeks via radio, tv, etc.
How much did we pay for this review?
Why someone should pay up to $60 a week = $3120 per year when previously was paying half? This is more than 4.2 per cent annually, well over the current rate of inflation.
Public transport supposed to be a service provided by the government and not a way to make an excessive profit from those who share a service and inconveniences with hundreds of other people.... that's why they should pay a symbolic price to use it not to finance other infrastructures because the government doesn't know where else can find the money.
It is called public transport because it is a shared service. If you go back and forth from work every day with 4 more mates sharing the same car with your own music, air con, and other comforts you still won't pay $19,500 per year ($3900 x 5). Think about how sharing with hundreds, etc.
You should be reminded that:
We don't have anymore discount for return tickets.
We don't have anymore monthly passes (3-6-12 months at a convenient price).
The glitch with the faulty poles is a different matter compared to those who honestly follow the rules for the 8 trips (1 hour between trips) and achieve the weekly reward.
The glitch with the poles was well known since mid-last year and someone has been waiting till now to use this as an excuse to support unfair changes instead of fixing it promptly.
From 5 September 2016 they are replacing the free trips reward with a 50% discount. Is this how they take advantage of the members of public when the free trips was a sweetener and one of the conditions to let people moving to the new system and compensate somehow their yearly spending?
There isn't a campaign to register the opal card and most of the travelers are not aware of their rights.
The only campaign has been done back to when the opal has been introduced
Most of the commuters don't notice (because they did set-up an automatic top up via credit card) or can't find the time to call 136 725 for a refund.
Those who register the card should receive an automatic email or message to their app saying that there was a default fare applied to their trip and if this is incorrect they should claim the refund. This would be honest.
How many default fares the public transport applied till now without refunding anyone?
Many card readers and opal cards are still malfunctioning and no one takes responsibility.
People on a holiday in Sydney leave here millions of dollars not being able to claim back their credit when they leave the Country.
There aren't physical kiosks to lodge a formal complaint, neither at the head Office (18 Lee street - Chippendale ), but everything is managed by a customer centre somewhere. They simply ask you to refer to the website to write a complaint and no one comes back to you.
Transactions on the bus are in real-time but before being able to double check the fares for any mistake and seeing the trip in our opal app or checking the official opal activity using the new app called Opal Travel could even take hours.
For Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=au.com.opal.travel&hl=en
For iPhone: https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/opal-travel/id941006607?mt=8
Using the website: https://www.opal.com.au/ then login and select opal activity
We still have trains without air con
We still have train track-works every weekend and takes up to 3 times of the normal time to go from A to B.
George street is a mess and there are other street works everywhere around NSW.
Most of the other main streets to get out and come in to the city are congested at peak time (e.g.: bus from the north shore, etc.)
We still need to pay high fares to the airport.
Transfer fares only work between buses or trains but not if the commuters use a combination of both to reach a destination... and from 5 September they want to put a $2 reward that won't cover the faulty system, the unfair fare and the amount of extra money a year that commuters are going to spend.
Even without the above inconvenience, fares are still too expensive, weekly cap is too expensive, daily cap is too expensive. It is like Vodafone doubling up the price of my plan and for me not having any chance to change provider because there isn't another one and without appeal to anyone to take any action. That's exactly what they are doing with buses, trains and ferries.
The Decision Makers
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Petition created on 9 May 2016