Managing Director's overview

Since the Public Transport Authority came into being in July 2003 patronage, particularly on our Transperth trains, has been increasing steadily - building on sustained patronage gains since the late 1990s.

There was a massive jump after the Mandurah Line came on stream but, even without that big influx of new passengers, the numbers were marching ahead strongly.

Driven by the continuing resources boom, WA’s population has continued to grow - and so has the take-up of public transport. This year marked a turning point: the number of people living in and around Perth has reached the stage where road congestion, especially at peak, has become a major talking point.

While our love affair with the car will never really be over, more and more people are becoming aware that a strong, vibrant - and well-supported - public transport system is critical if Perth, and the State as a whole, is to successfully transition to the next stage of its development.

This was painfully obvious early this year when, for a couple of short periods, parts of our train system ground to a halt - and the city was badly affected. Public transport has become an essential service in the community. We keep Perth moving ... literally.

When you take all our services into account - Transperth, Transwa and our regional and school bus operations - the PTA provides more than 17,000 train, bus, coach and ferry trips on an average weekday, with services spread out all over the State.

During the two hour morning peak in the metropolitan area alone, we take almost 170,000 people to work, school and university, to the shops, to medical and other appointments, to visit friends and relatives. Over the course of a full weekday, there are almost 600,000 public transport boardings in Perth.

A significant number of these trips are taken at concession rates (including the 50c student concession) and many of them are completely free of charge. A significant proportion of these particular travellers are seniors and pensioners, whose free off-peak travel trips topped eight million in 2011-12.

As always, this information is explained in considerable detail in the annual report. But, impressive as these numbers may be (and we think they are pretty impressive), there is much more to the PTA than figures and statistics. You need look no further than our name, Public Transport Authority, to realise that we are about people - not just WA’s tax-paying public, who are effectively our shareholders ... and not just the hundreds of thousands of people who rely on our services every day ... but also about 1460 people who work for the PTA (and 4300-plus contractor staff) providing our services and the support structures which keep them running.

While public transport is now truly a “triple bottom line” investment, offering substantial economic, social and environmental returns, the PTA also makes a conscious effort to be a good corporate citizen in other ways. This year, these included:

• An updated version of 2009-10’s popular I Give Two Hoots campaign to help improve the amenity of our services by highlighting behaviour that annoys customers and encouraging positive behaviour
• Introducing new Volvo buses which are several years ahead of emission standard requirements
• A high-profile social media (and some cinema advertising) campaign called Trains Move Faster Than You - an offshoot of our successful Right Track and Stay Off the Tracks community education programs - to improve pedestrian crossing safety awareness
• A commitment to trial (early in 2013) a Volvo B5RH hybrid bus, which will operate on electric only, diesel only or a combination of both, depending on conditions and energy requirements
• Get on Board presentations delivered to a broad range of community groups
• An ongoing commitment to make all our services and infrastructure as universally accessible as possible.

I also want to highlight the commitment of the people who work for us and with us, who are also very aware of our role in the community and are active and willing participants in various charities and community activities.

Prime among these charities is Radio Lollipop, which has been supported by the PTA (and, before that, Transperth) since 1995. With great support from our bus contractors, more than $80,000 was raised this year to help brighten the lives of sick WA children in hospitals.

Movember was another well-supported charity - 38 PTA “Mo Bro’s” took part and more than $14,000 was raised. We chomped on Anzac biscuits to support Legacy, sold 65 Roses for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and helped our people take part in such community events as City to Surf and the Freeway Bike Hike (as well as providing extensive transport services for these events).

With direct and indirect support from the PTA, our people raised more than $120,000 for charity in 2011-12. Other beneficiaries, many of which were nominated and championed by PTA staffers, included Breast Cancer WA, Schools for East Africa, the Salvation Army, Activ and the Heart Foundation.

At a time when public transport is more important than ever, when we are facing increasing patronage as well as some major expansions, the quality people who make up the PTA mean that we are well placed to continue successfully meeting the challenges ahead.

Mark Burgess
Managing Director, PTA