GIANT transport effort

The visit of The Giants was easily the biggest public transport event in Perth’s history – the massive crowds which flocked into Perth to see The Diver and the Little Girl set numerous Transperth patronage records. 

Transperth spokesman David Hynes said that on the Saturday, buses carried 133,600 people and trains a record 559,000 – “the total of more than 692,000 people made it far and away the biggest day we have ever experienced.”

He said it easily eclipsed any Skyworks, Royal Show or CHOGM day’s patronage.

“The Friday, with numbers boosted by normal commuter traffic, is the next biggest day on record at 556,550, about 25 per cent higher than the previous Friday,” he said.

“Sunday was quieter, but still extremely busy by normal standards.  Buses carried 79,800 and trains 399,000 for a total of 478,800.

“The three-day total of 1.73 million is a figure which is unlikely ever to be matched.”

Mr Hynes said the numbers include some estimates.

“Due to the sheer volume, our people on the ground made the decision a couple of times over the weekend to ‘open the gates’ and allow people to travel free for safety/crowd management reasons.  This also happened on a few occasions at the Mends Street and Barrack Street jetties and at a small number of outer stations when TVM (ticket-vending machine) numbers became too large.

“The ferry set records each day and, over the three days, the service carried more than 20,000 passengers – more than would normally be carried in a month.”

“On the Saturday, when The Giants had activities scheduled for most of the day, the service carried close to 10,000 people – another number which is unlikely to be approached again, let alone exceeded … unless The Giants come back.”