Brakes put on free Footy Express to and from Adelaide Oval

THE full cost of running the popular Footy Express public transport service will be shifted away from the taxpayer and on to people who use it, the State Government has confirmed, prompting fears the price of going to the football will increase.

Brad Ebert of Port and Sam Jacobs on a MAC Bus last year. Picture: File

THE full cost of running the popular Footy Express public transport service will be shifted away from the taxpayer and on to people who use it, the State Government has confirmed, prompting fears the price of going to the football will increase.

Transport Minister Stephan Knoll has guaranteed the service will continue in its current form for next year but says after this time, when the current contract expires, the Government will seek to recover the full cost of the service.

As reported by The Advertiser in September, the current three-year agreement between the State Government, Motor Accident Commission (MAC), Adelaide Oval and the two Adelaide clubs has expired.

Mr Knoll confirmed Government funding cuts, saying that while the MAC funding was guaranteed for 2019, fans may have to pay beyond then.

At present, footy fans going to and from a match at the oval can leave their car at home, then show their AFL game ticket for free travel on MAC Footy Express services as well as all regular Adelaide Metro buses, trains and trams.

Mr Knoll said, despite the cuts the Footy Express service will continue “exactly as it has done ... into the foreseeable future”. “(But) somebody does have to pay,” he said.

“Every single other sport and concert in South Australia pays full cost recovery on their public transport,” Mr Knoll said.

“And footy games should be no different,” he said.

He said the same system of showing footy tickets to the bus driver would continue.

“We’re not going to reintroduce the system where people have to directly pay when they get on.”

It is not clear over what period of time the service would be transitioned to full cost recovery.

Negotiations are continuing as to whether any ongoing service would need to be picked up by fans when they board public transport, or through the Adelaide Oval Stadium Management Authority and the Adelaide and Port Adelaide football clubs.

Under the latter model, it is not clear if the SMA and the clubs would absorb the additional cost of funding the service, or pass the costs on to fans through more expensive ticket prices or an increase in food and drink costs at the ground.

Labor Leader Peter Malinauskas said if fans were forced to pay for the full Footy Express service, the cost of going to the footy for a family of four would rise to $31.20 per game or up to $343.20 per year.

“Footy Express is a popular service which makes a trip to the footy that little bit cheaper for fans while also easing congestion on our roads on match days,” he said.

“We’ve already seen the price of food and drink go up, now the cost of getting to and from the game is going to go up as well.

“We should be doing everything we can to make a trip to the footy as affordable as possible for all South Australians. Instead, footy fans are paying the price for the Marshall Liberal Government’s cuts.”