There's no such things as "free" public transport. Someone has to pay for it, which would mean out of your taxes even if you never use public transport. Even if it was tax-payer funded "free", it's not going to suddenly make a lot of people use it - in most cases private cars are simply far more reliable, efficient, cost-effective, and better option.

Having it free, there would be no more fair evasion and less stress on drivers who have these people to deal with as their company requires.

if it's free, you are paying for it in taxes whether you use it or not.

Yes! Its supposed to benefit the public

I top up my money in Myki so the public transport inspectors check on my Myki to avoid getting fined and on my record.

our minister for public transport is going green,,,,,he's making all the buses run on thyme

Yes and No. while free or at least cheap public transport may incentivise more useage at the end of the day someone has to pay. Perhaps free for the disabled and here in NZ those with a community services, and Goldcard.

The roads are getting busier every day, by having free or cheaper fares would relieve this a lot.

No, but the fares should be reasonably priced. The only gripe I have is having to pay for parking at hospitals!!

This begs the question - How much does it cost to actually collect the revenue and enforce compliance? I strongly suspect that the colection costs are such that it's hardly worth charging.

A free ambulance service like here in Queensland is useful.

When you see how many people don't tap on and off with their cards or phones, I thought it already was!

Small single price for each trip, no matter how far, but free for school kids, the unwaged, and people in receipt of a government pension.

Yes

Yes

Depending on how far you want to travel, but I should not comment, Mine will always be free, via Seniours card, Pension Card, and Fuel Card, We are very lucky here in the west, however buses are far and few in our town and we have no trains, in our area, if we want to travel approx 200 ks away we have to use our Coach Lines Service, taxis or d drive your own.Oh Free travel on the Cat in Perth at least I hope soEdited 28-Aug-22 22:02pm

I think that they should have free buses that do an inner city loop and I think that all buses should be free for supergold card holders. I believe that fares for others should be minimal to encourage use.

Being free encourages people to use it and that keeps cars off the road. Less pollution and that frees up the roads. This should help the community.

No but should be cheap for peoples to used each day.

Don't/won't use it anyway.

Hell, why stop at public transport.. they should serve free beer on them as well.. And a bit of finger food would be nice too…Edited 28-Aug-22 20:53pm

No but made cheaper

No. If you need to get to hospital fast get an ambulance. The elderly travel for nothing or next to nothing so who are these people who need to catch public transport urgently and can't pay? If it's urgent why would you use public transport? Sydney's trains are hit and miss at the moment so you can't count on them. This is a nothing subject in my opinion.

There are concessions and free travel in off peak times already for those who qualify. Although school children should have free travel to and from school and if they come from a low income household. Bus drivers are very accommodating to those who have a good excuse why they can’t pay. I have seen it many times and experienced it twice myself when my card had insufficient funds and they allowed me to travel.

Yes!!

I don't use public transport because I live in the country. I have to pay for fuel to get me from A to B. I think PT shouldn't be free. People who use it should pay something.

My tax. NOTHING is free.

OMG yeah for sure! I think all the time. It wouldn't really cost much when you consider lowered health costs due to less air pollution and fewer traffic accidents.

No, in some parts of Australia there is no Public Transport other then may be a school bus. If it was free, those without would be paying for the city people how have Public Transport. It is not free it has to be paid for, even the school bus.

Yes please.

i would like to see free to kids and all benifisharies

No I don't think it should be free. What you have outlined would be extremely difficult to arrange - have it free in some circumstances and nor in others. I think it is already very cheap as compared to the running costs of a car and the service in Perth at any rate is pretty good. Pensioners can already go free during certain times. Edited 28-Aug-22 17:29pm

Nothing is free for tax payers

To right

No. We expect too many handouts in this day and age. Someone has to pay for the upkeep and maintenance of the public transport system. This country is too far in debt to even consider something like this.

Since becoming a pensioner, even though not paid as one I have enjoyed enormously exploring the extremities around Sydney's 200km circle that entitles me to spend just $2.50/day.

YES

For seniors, retirees, the disabled, Vets and those of us who cannot afford the horrendous fares yes public transports should be free. But if one can afford the prices for the fares then those persons should have to pay.

With all the parking areas being removed in the CBD to give preferance to bike riders who dont pay for registration or repairing roads etc drivers shouldn't be penalised by paying for public transport around the perimeter of the city. Drivers now have to leave their cars at railway stations and once in the city have to use their myki card twice once on train and then again on the tram which is not fair. Trams in the city should be free and for a certain distance like Richmond Carlton Fitzroy etc to allow people to get to their place of work free.

No because who will pay for new trains, buses, ferry and light rail. Do you want the taxpayer to pay?

I think this would be a good idea to get cars off the road and decrease congestion, air pollution and road rage. I would like to see the fuel excise go towards funding this and looking at solar powered and electric buses.

Yes and it should be owned by the government not privateers.

It is for this old fossil

Yes to a point if you are only going one or two stops yes it should be free

A reasonable fee would be ok. Specially if they paid the drivers a reasonable wage.

Public transport services, should not be free. Fares could cover purchases of new buses and improving old infrastructure. I want clean reliable services

YES!!!! YES!!! YES!!! But the service needs to be greatly improved to get people to use it. I live in a retirement village in Auckland and the nearest public transport to us is over a K away.

If you live in a country with high taxes, I think it should be free. It will also help ease traffic congestion and air pollution. But really people would be happy if they have access to reliable public transport and reasonably priced fares.

i think and agree that public transport should be free

The cost of it at moment is reasonable due to the Coivd thing

No, but it shouldn't be so expensive for workers.

No i don't. We have to pay our way when travelling on public transport. Maybe reducing the cost might be more cost effective.

Not free but a lot cheaper

No, it is a public service and for this we need to pay at least a nominal amount to use the facility. I feel that in some cases the fares could be considered excessive but what is there today which is not excessive. I think rather than consider if the price of transport is too expensive we should be more interested in the time tables of public transport. The could certainly be improved....

I think a reasonable fare is the right way to go...

Yes

NO PEOPLE WHO CAN AFFORD CARS AND PETROL WOULD WANT TO USE IT AND IT WOULD BE MORE CROWDED THAN EVER

Don't understand why some states of Australia have free transport and others don't. Such a crazy world we are all supposed to be the same country but each state has its only laws and regulations. Makes it confusing when one leave their home state.

I do believe public transportation should be free because everything is way too expensive within this world

Daft question …..it’s never going to be free….somebody has to pay and I think it should be User Pays and not property taxes

So every trip I make on public transport is important. I need to go food shopping or I will starve, very important. Who is going to police me and say otherwise? Making things free puts more pressure on tax payers who have to foot the bill. But I do think the costs are ridiculously high and need to be reduced. If they want to encourage people to not use their cars that is a way to do it. In Melbourne it is pretty expensive to travel. I moved to Canberra and the fares a very reasonable here. Makes me wonder how many millions in revenue these companies are making.

One assumes that if public transport were free then more people would use it and there would be fewer cars on the roads. If we want more people to use public transport it has to more readily available to the users to take them where they want to go when they want to go there. Cost to the user is a secondary consideration for most of us. If we mke public transport free then we are probably saving on other areas such as roads.Edited 28-Aug-22 12:18pm

Further to my earlier comment. If not already available, it will not be long before we will be able to "Pay Wave" with our phones or using a Debit or Credit Card to pay.- just as we can today when we go shopping. Nothing is "FREE" - someone always ends up paying and often it is people who don't use those so-called "Free Services"!

No.

If it were free then other people would have to pay through taxes etc. Not everyone uses public transport though so it's not fair for them. I don't know how they would allow free transport for emergency as any opportunist could take advantage and just lie. If you had to prove an emergency you may end up wasting time trying to prove that you're in an emergency situation, and if it's an emergency you don't want to waste time right? So what would be labeled as an emergency? If you're having a stroke or going into labour I think those kinds of emergencies should rely on an ambulance.

Nothing is free - who do you think would pay for this - taxes

Free?? Hardly! your taxes, rates etc.. would go up. Dramatically!

No buses, No taxis, No trains or trams. No public any thing out here. How do define an emergency? Some thing urgent for you may not be urgent for me. So technically the answer has to be No, you have to pay. I have gotten on a bus were I didn't have any change or the right change in a foreign currency and a very nice person paid for me. I was very grateful and was a little embarrassed but it could not have been helped. I had simply forgotten I needed to get a bus from the airport to the ferry terminal.

If it were who would end up paying for it? We would through levies, fess of some sort probably tacked onto Motor Registration Fees even if we can't use Public Transport! As we don't have Conductors on Public Transport now who is going to police the claim that a trip is Urgent. Today we have Pre-paid Cards for Public Transport so there is no reason why even in an emergency we can't Pay Concession Holders get Free transport at certain times. Now Senior Citizens in some areas get Free Transport all the time - this I disapprove of during Peak Hours but not outside them. The money to pay for the upkeep of Public Transport has to come from somewhere so may be rather than Lowering Income Tax Rates they would have to increase.

Nothing is free, someone has to foot the bill. Maintenance, driver costs etc.

No

It’s already almost free where l live compared to running a car or getting a taxi It’s also free in the city which causes over crowding And it’s good to have some form of user payment Edited 28-Aug-22 11:43am

Maaaaam, I need to catch the buuuuus, but I caaant because they want me to pay $5 just to be driven 100 meeeeteehheeheeersss

I don't think it can be completely free, but there are circumstances where it is in a limited form. The trams around city circle in Melbourne are a great example. They contribute to ease of access around the city for visitors & Melbourne's would help contribute to tourist dollars being spent in the city. In general though no it can't be free, but it should be accessible & as low cost as possible.

No. Nothing is free. Someone always pays

Yes or minimum cost. The train,bus,ferry still go regardless of the num of passengers. Drivers still get paid and not by passenger numbers. Now we have OPAL cards or whatever they are in other places the sale and issuing of tickets has dropped dramatically.

User pays! Don't think it should be as expensive as it is however. If it was cheaper and safer, many more people would use it which would provide the same result as few people paying more

I don't think so, or there would be no money to pay for new transport or repairs, playing wages, etc.

No such thing as a "free lunch" someone has to pay ie Taxpayer or Ratepayer. To pay for this everyone will be taxed in one way or another and many cant really afford another tax

If u going to work yes

Gas is not cheap. I think we should pay.

Nothing is free someone has to pay

Don' know where you live but Public Transport is free for some people in Australia. All Pensioners in Sth Australia are free at any time, some States only for set times. All others Pay, which is how it should be. Edited 28-Aug-22 10:35am

No. Someone has to pay for the fuel and upkeep.

It would have to be paid for by tax and rate payers and there would be a lot of people would use it because it was free and use the money they save to buy drugs etc.

A sympathetic driver most always allows people in need, with no money, to travel. I know my brother was allowed this when he was desperate and a few times at that.

The Potomac Transit bus here at one time wanted over 300.00 one way for one trip half way to the doctor, we could not afford that.

In Auckland the St John Ambulance is $180 per call. On one use of ambulance there may be 10,000.00 or more uses of public transport.What else do we want for free?

Pensioners get free transport in the city at weekends and cheaper rates through the week, but what about us pensioners that live in rural areas. We usually get little or no discount.

We pay no matter what,something has to cover the cost of running,repair and all the jobs that this service provides,either our taxes go up or we pay a fee. I do bieve that the cost is too high and should be reduced. Especially for students,low income earners ,pensioners and the unemployed as long as these services are used for getting to school,interviews,appointments and the like. Money is tight for everyone,and even those with jobs find it hard to make ends meet so I guess it depends on individual circumstances.

No public transport should not be free. How are we going to pay for anything if it is always free.

Yes it should be free as the economic advantages of it being free are far higher than making people pay for it and discourage them from using Public Transport. The more people you can move around on Public Transport the fewer of everything else you have clogging the streets and the more people you move efficiently and at the lowest carbon footprint possible. It is an advantage to the community hyst the same as it is an advantage to train people for free in Universities so what they do contributes to developing the country at the lowest cost possible to the country and improving the Economy of the entire country. The adage of User Pays holds back the entire country and is expounded by idiots who got a free University Education and feel no one else should get what they got so they introduce HEX Debt where many will never be able to pay it back because the University Education that they needed will never pay enough to reach the lower threshold of starting to pay back the HEX Debt. People who need University Educations for Child Care are a perfect example of where they run up a massive debt that will never be paid back if they continue to work in that sector, the only possible way for them to reduce their Hex Debt is to walk away from what they where educated to do and get a job which pays better so they can be in a position to start paying back their debt and mean that educating them to work in Child Care was just a massive waste of money.

no rate payer pay plenty for it now with out it being free

Yes!!!

I feel public transportation should be free for all elderly, disabled and any aged person attending schooling of any kind and proof must be shown upon request from transit personal

For pensioners transport should be free as it is in Adelaide between the hours of 9 and 3. Works very well and other states should be looking to do the same thing.

What do you mean free ??? That is MY and Your taxes (if ?? you pay any)

No public transport should not be free.For any reason because there are a lot of people that would use the transport just because they want a free ride .Public transport is cheap enough..

Yes

Yes