City Council to look into free public transport tickets to bring people into the CBD
First there was the “idiocy” of the proposed “Driver’s Month”, now Adelaide City Council is looking into another, greener way to get people into the CBD. See the proposal.
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Free public transport to and from the city will be investigated as part of an Adelaide City councillor’s push to bring more people into the CBD.
On Tuesday night, a majority of elected members backed Cr Robert Simms’ call for a report into free bus, train and tram tickets.
Cr Simms said after the meeting his proposal was in response to the “idiocy” of Driver’s Month – which aims to encourage people to drive, park and spend money in the city – accepted by council in August.
“This is an opportunity for council to encourage more visitors to the city in a clean, green way,” Cr Simms said.
“The report will look at options to provide free … tickets, which could involve providing free transport to key events or transport home after a meal and drinks out.”
A council report in response to Cr Simms’ motion said the public could potentially exploit the idea by people travelling outside the city boundaries.
It also said there was a “high level of concern” about using public transport during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It may be more beneficial to promote visitors to the city through activations and promotions,” the report said.
Cr Helen Donovan said it should be the council’s priority to bring people into the city, particularly using sustainable transport.
“If our primary aim is to bring people into the city, and we know majority of people travel by public transport, why would we not make that easier in the same way we are incentivising car travel?” Dr Donovan said.
In May, Cr Franz Knoll’s push to write to the State Government about allowing commuters to ride public transport for free in the city and North Adelaide was backed by majority of councillors.
At the time, his son, Stephan Knoll, was Transport Minister.
The council revealed at the meeting on Tuesday night that the government said the idea was “not feasible” because of the cost to implement.
He said free transport in and out of the city would be “cumbersome” difficult to manage.
“I am positive about this, positive it won’t work,” Mr Knoll said.
“It is much more important that we find ways and reasons to come to our city through marketing exercises and more commercial-orientated outcomes.”
The Transport Department was contacted for comment.