New year, new records for Transperth patronage in January
Patronage records have tumbled at Transperth as public transport continues to emerge as a more attractive way to travel.
During the month of January, there were almost 10.51 million total boardings recorded on Transperth trains, buses and ferries - the second highest figure ever recorded for the month behind only January 2013 at 10.59 million boardings.
January was the best month on record for bus and ferry services, with 5.9 million boardings on Transperth buses and 108,605 on ferries – eclipsing the previous ferry boarding record set the month before in December 2023 with 105,067.
Perth's train network didn't miss out either, recording 4.503 million boardings - the best January figures since pre-COVID, including:
- Mandurah Line – 1.706 million boardings, best January on record
- Joondalup Line – 1.228 million boardings, best January total since pre-COVID
- Midland Line – 357,457 boardings, best January total since pre-COVID
- Fremantle Line – 475,511 boardings, best January total since pre-COVID.
Boardings on the Airport Line were also well up on last January's 332,952 total with 411,560.
These record-breaking patronage numbers come off the back of several initiatives introduced in the past two years to bring some cost-of-living relief and make public transport more affordable for Perth families.
They include:
- capping all fares at the cost of two zones in January 2022
- recent Free Summer of Public Transport, which made travel free for SmartRider users for five weeks
- free transport for SmartRider users every Sunday
- free travel to and from school for anyone with a student SmartRider.