The Canberra Times, 20 June 2010
The latest inefficiency within ACTION to be revealed is that three passengers in every 100 get free travel because ACTION ticket machines do not working. This has cost taxpayers over half a million dollars this financial year, said the Shadow Minister for Transport Services, Alistair Coe.
“A Question on Notice asked by the Canberra Liberals has revealed over half a million passengers aren’t paying to get on ACTION buses because of errors in the ticketing machines,” Mr Coe said.
“That’s over half a million dollars not collected by ACTION, which places further pressure on revenue, with ACTION already subsided by the ACT taxpayer by more than 80 per cent.
”This is yet another example of inefficiencies within the ACTION bus service. Recently it was revealed ACTION was spending almost $30,000 every weekday on dead running buses.
“The Transport Minister, Jon Stanhope, has again done little to address chronic inefficiencies within ACTION, but has made it more expensive for Canberrans to use their cars.
“The fares that were not collected because of ticketing machines not working equates to about three per cent of ACTION’s total revenue from fares.
With basic inefficiencies like not collecting fares, ACTION will continue to cost taxpayers millions while not providing a service many can rely on,” Mr Coe concluded.
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