Greens plan to cut public transport fares to just 50 cents across Australia
The bold promise will be rolled out across Australia’s buses, trains, ferries and trams but won’t come cheap. See what is planned and how much it is tipped to cost.
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Public transport fares around Australia would all be slashed to 50 cents under a whopping $8 billion election plan from the Greens aimed at saving commuters thousands of dollars a year.
Greens leader Adam Bandt will announce its policy to rollout the super cheap fares on all buses, trains, ferries and trams around the country, with the Parliamentary Budget Office estimating a huge bill of $8.1bn over four years.
A similar scheme began as a trial in Queensland last year during the state election and has since been made permanent.
The Greens own analysis has found subsidising fares so travellers paid just 50 cents per trip would mean a full-time worker in Melbourne saved $50 a week, or $2400 a year, while in Sydney a full-time worker would save $2160 a year, in Perth $2006, and in Adelaide $1872.
The party’s plan also includes a one-off $250 million fund to help states and territories transition to smart ticketing, which allows people to pay for public transport using their credit or debit card, or their phone.
Mr Bandt said the Greens’ plan to significantly increase taxes for big corporations and super wealthy individuals would fund the public transport investment.
“In a wealthy country like ours, everyone should be able to afford the basics — 50c fares will help people make ends meet,” he said.
With polling suggesting a minority government is a likely outcome of the 2025 election, Mr Bandt said it increased the chances of the Greens negotiating cost of living relief like cheaper fares.
“By electing more Greens we can keep Peter Dutton out and get Labor to act on the cost-of-living crisis,” he said.
Greens transport spokeswoman Elizabeth Watson-Brown said the impact of 50c fares in Queensland had bolstered the case for a nationwide rollout.
“Queensland’s recent shift to 50c fares has been proven to be a huge success,” she said.
“It has reduced traffic and emissions, massively increased ridership on public transport, and saved Queenslanders millions.
“Now it’s time to roll out 50c fares across the country. If it’s good enough for both Queensland Labor and LNP, surely it’s good enough for federal Labor.”
Ahead of the policy launch in Melbourne, Greens candidate for Prahran Angelica Di Camillo said residents in the city had already copped three fare increases in the last 18 months and faced some of the most expensive public transport in the world.
“But under the Greens’ plan … Melbourne households could save almost $5000 a year,” she said.
The former Labor government in Queensland implemented 50c fares as a trial last year on a “use it or lose it” basis, with the popularity of the scheme leading the party as well as the then-LNP opposition to promise to keep the discount permanently.
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Originally published as Greens plan to cut public transport fares to just 50 cents across Australia
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