Service Information

Total patronage on the Transperth system increased for the sixth year in succession. Total boardings, comprising fare-paying boardings, free travel on passes, free travel on Central Area Transit (CAT) buses in Perth and Fremantle and free travel on services within the Free Transit Zone in central Perth, plus transfers, increased by 4.9 per cent from 90.578 million in 2003/04 to 94.985 million in 2004/05. Fare-paying boardings increased by 3.4 per cent from 55.504 million to 57.407 million.

Total capacity provided on the Transperth system expressed in terms of passenger place kilometres rose by 3.5 per cent from 5647.3 million to 5843.9 million. This was due to a significant increase in train passenger place kilometres which offset a small decline in bus passenger place kilometres.

This patronage increase compares favourably with the estimated increase of 1.7 per cent in the population of the metropolitan area.

Accessibility for People with Disabilities

Transperth continued its program to make its services more accessible to all sections of the community.

Trains: All Transperth trains are accessible. The key issue for train accessibility is whether gaps between trains and platforms meet accessibility standards. Of the 58 stations on the suburban rail network at 30 June 2005, 15 provided independent access to people in wheelchairs, complying with the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport and Guidelines under the Disability Discrimination Act, 1992 (which came into effect on 23 October 2002). This compares with 11 stations in 2003/04 and eight in 2002/03. Of the remaining 43 stations, 31 provided partial access and 12 provided only limited access. At these 43 stations, people in wheelchairs had to be assisted by customer service staff.

Buses: Transperth continued its long-term program of procuring accessible buses for its fleet. As at 30 June 2005, the number of accessible buses in the fleet was 481 out of a total of 1030 buses, compared with 422 accessible buses in a fleet of 1015 at 30 June 2004. Preference is given to accessible buses whenever possible, so that in off-peak periods the predominant number of buses on the road are accessible. During peak periods when service demand is high, both accessible and non-accessible buses are fully committed. Accessible buses accounted for 53.7 per cent of service kilometres in 2004/05, compared with 51.1 per cent in 2003/04.

In 2004/05, the PTA prepared designs to upgrade accessibility at ten metropolitan bus stations. Accessibility improvements at the Morley, Kwinana and Curtin Bus Stations were completed during the year and work commenced at Booragoon Bus Station and the City Busport. Accessibility improvements at the remaining bus stations are planned for 2005/06.

At year’s end, design work was under way for ten metropolitan bus stations for which construction is planned during 2006.

Ferries: The bulk of Transperth’s ferry services are provided by the Shelley Taylor-Smith ferry, an accessible vessel.The two primary jetties in operation during the year, at Barrack Street in Perth and Mends Street in South Perth, are both fully accessible. Services to a nonaccessible jetty at Coode Street ceased in April 2005.

Passenger Satisfaction

The Passenger Satisfaction Monitor 2005 showed that, on a system-wide basis, 85.6 per cent of survey respondents expressed satisfaction with the overall level of service, compared with 84.8 per cent in 2004. (See passenger satisfaction details by mode below.)

Public awareness and interest in TravelEasy, which provides passengers with relevant and timely service information by e-mail, continued to grow, resulting in an increase in registrations from 15,000 to 24,000.The Passenger Satisfaction Monitor 2005 showed that more than 90 per cent of current users of TravelEasy were “highly satisfied” with the service.