Brisbane City Council will provide $1 taxi rides for residents of three Brisbane suburbs where public transport is deemed not financially viable.
New maxi-taxi services - with a $1 flat fare - will run in the suburbs of Drewvale, Aspley and Hemmant in September to link people without bus services to the nearest train or bus connection.
Read article for more info.
Yeah, these aren't new or even out-lying suburbs.
I'd say that patronage has fallen over the years at Aspley & Hemmant, and the Brisbane City Council (which directly runs the suburban buses) has decided that it's cheaper to subsidise taxis than run near-empty buses in the areas.
Cheers,
Live Long and Prosper.
[ :- { )
Not living in Brisbane I can't really judge, so I'm not going to vote, but it is also only a $1 ride "to the nearest train or bus connection" which is presumably a few km away. At which point you would still need to purchase a ticket for that bus or train anyway.
Still a nice assist for people in those suburbs, but not quite the bargain it seems.
"Still a nice assist for people in those suburbs, but not quite the bargain it seems."
I'm afraid that I can't agree with you there Kojak…
If you don't have public transport close by and would be needing to use taxis to get to the nearest "portal", then I think you'd consider a $1 taxi fare a bargain indeed. As you point out though, you do need to factor in the "total" fare.
Cheers,
Live Longer and Prosper.
[ :- { )
I just looked up on Google Maps to see whether these suburbs are and they aren't that far from city! Hemmant for example — 15km/30 minute car ride to Brisbane CBD. I can't see this kind of thing happening in Sydney. My 10km/20 minute bus ride to Sydney CBD costs way more than $1 :(