Chief Executive Officer's overview
Whatever business you are in, it seems like every year there is a new method of analysis, a new way of measuring your success or failure, and the public transport business isn’t all that different.
But when you strip away the buzzwords and all the fancy calculations, there’s a fairly basic yardstick by which public transport operators can be measured: How many people did you carry? On that most fundamental of bases, we did extraordinarily well in 2008/09.
Total boardings across our system went up more than 18 per cent to almost 129 million.
This record-breaking increase reflects a full-year contribution from the new Mandurah Line and was foreshadowed last year (2007/08) with a 7.8 per cent increase (to 108.8 million), which had the benefit of the first six months of Mandurah patronage. The Mandurah influence is immediately evident when you look at a modal breakdown of our latest increase - ferry patronage went up 4.3 per cent, bus patronage 12 per cent and train patronage 28.4 per cent.
Not only have we never seen a patronage total of that magnitude (it was only three years ago that we topped 100 million for the first time) but the 18.4 per cent rate of increase is extraordinary for an industry in which double-digit growth is virtually unheard of. Even discounting the one-off "Mandurah" effect, the underlying growth is 9.8 per cent, something that has not been seen since the 50s. After that post-war boom, patronage stayed in the mid-60s (million) through the 1960s, 70s, 80s and into the 90s. It bounced as high as 70.6 million in 1972/73 and bottomed out around 58 million in 1982/83 (when the Fremantle Line was closed). In 1991/92 it was 61.4 million. And then it took off ... having been effectively flat for about 30 years, patronage more than doubled in the following 17 years with a virtually unbroken string of increases (there were very minor reversals in 1998 and 1999).
This is a major achievement in a city which has one of the world’s highest levels of car dependence, and one of the lowest levels of urban population density - neither of which is conducive to a high level of public transport use. What’s more, the trend has been gathering pace over the past few years. In the eight years to 2005, growth was 2.8 per cent; in the past four years it virtually trebled to 7.9 per cent. This mirrors growth in some of the other Australian capitals (Melbourne and Brisbane), which signifies that we are seeing a new phenomenon in Australia: there is a fundamental behavioural change in how people embrace public transport, and the community understanding that public transport is a vital component in making cities work properly. Interestingly, this is not reflected all around the world. Though there are pockets of good growth, some of the more mature markets are slowing down or even slipping backwards.
That we have been able to achieve this remarkable growth, to successfully absorb the pressures and meet the challenges that come with such sustained expansion, is a real testament to the consistently high levels of professionalism and dedication of our people. From the planners who map out our path for years ahead, to the engineers and project managers who turn the vision into reality and the maintenance people who keep everything running smoothly; from the admin people in our back-offices to the drivers, customer service and security people who make up our front-line, it has been yet another outstanding performance across the board. Reflecting their efforts, customer satisfaction has remained very high at a time when the level of demand might easily have created problems. According to our Passenger Satisfaction Monitor, the comprehensive annual survey of our patrons which is carried out for us by an independent researcher, the overall level of customer satisfaction this year was at record (Transwa: 92 per cent) or near-record (Transperth: 85.4 per cent) levels.
Having said that, I should point out that there were some well-documented growing pains. In last year’s overview, I noted that the Mandurah Line was in danger of becoming a victim of its own success as peak-hour services approached capacity and car parks began to fill up earlier and earlier. This proved to be the case across the system, but particularly on the Mandurah and Joondalup lines, the north-south spine of our urban system. This year we made inroads into both aspects of this two-fold problem.
- Over the next couple of years, $51 million will be invested in expanding car parking on the Joondalup and Mandurah lines by 3000 bays. The first tranche of this program was delivered in 2008/09 with work being completed to expand capacity at Greenwood (Stage 1), Edgewater and Murdoch. Further progress can be expected in the current financial year at Whitfords, Greenwood (Stage 2), Cockburn, Warnbro, Rockingham and Mandurah.
- Meanwhile, the extra railcars that we ordered several years ago have started to come on-stream. In September 2006, recognising that demand was expanding at a rate faster than had been anticipated during the planning stages of the Mandurah Line, the PTA ordered a further 45 B-series railcars (15 three-car train sets) on top of the 93 (31 three-car sets) being acquired as part of the New MetroRail (NMR) project. The first of the new trains, which are manufactured in Maryborough, arrived in Perth late in 2008. We are taking the opportunity to enhance the railcars’ communication system and, by balance date, we had three sets in operation. The others will arrive periodically through until late 2010, by which time we will have increased our urban rail system’s capacity by about 25 per cent.
Backing up the increase in railcar capacity, we pressed for accelerated deliveries of the Euro 4 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses which are replacing the diesels in Transperth’s bus fleet. More than 80 were acquired this year, with about 150 more expected over the next two years. We continued the trial of different Euro 5 CNG articulated buses with the acquisition of an Iveco to join the Scania and MAN models which went into service in the first half of 2008. These buses, which have a capacity of 120, are the first we have bought since the last of our 96-passenger diesel articulated buses arrived in 1989.
Feedback from drivers, technicians and passengers during this three-vehicle trial will help Transperth identify a suitable model to replace its 90-odd articulated vehicles, some of which are approaching 30 years old.
We continue to lead the nation in the integration of our systems and services, and are recognised by the national press and various national and international industry and lobby groups as a world leader in this regard. This acknowledges that a single agency is responsible for the provision of all road, rail and ferry passenger public transport services in urban and regional areas, as well as the provision and management of all related ticketing, zoning, track and infrastructure. The synergies and efficiencies of this model helped us in a number of areas: we lead the country in such key performance indicators as timetable reliability and controlling operating costs.
The on-time running of our services improved almost across the board - Transperth buses were at more than 84 per cent, trains almost at 95 per cent and ferries better than 98 per cent. Transwa’s road coaches (95 per cent), AvonLink (99 per cent) and trackwork-affected Australind (82 per cent) were all at or better than target, though the Prospector (77 per cent) and MerredinLink (83 per cent) were affected by speed restrictions around culverts and work sites. These figures should improve in the current year following the completion of two major programs of track upgrade work.
Based on data from our nation-leading SmartRider electronic ticketing system, Transperth’s system-wide cost per passenger kilometre dropped slightly to 53.3c. The Transwa figures edged higher (24c for road coaches and 41c for trains) as a result of an increased maintenance spend and the cost of contract coaches as replacements for the Australind during track upgrade work. As we move away from car dominance and continue to increase the relative population densities in our cities, public transport will become more effective and efficient to further meet the needs of our community. We are now looking at undertaking benchmarking against Hong Kong’s MTR in the search for further improvement.
In the year under review it would have been easy for the PTA to lose some impetus, given the previous commitment to and focus on NMR and the Mandurah Line. This was not the case, as was evidenced by the wide range of accomplishments and achievements across the breadth of the organisation.
While these are discussed in detail in the relevant sections of this report, some highlights are listed below.
- SmartRider continues to be an outstanding success. In 2008/09, with SmartRider users making up more than 66 per cent of our Perth customer base, the system was introduced on public transport services in Geraldton, with the prospect of going into other regional areas in the current financial year.
- The Geraldton achievement was due in no small part to the regional bus replacement program. This four-year program, which started in 2007/08, involves the transfer of low-floor (accessible), air conditioned buses and other more modern vehicles from Perth into regional areas so that regional town services can operate with a modern fleet. This year, 16 diesels were phased out of the Transperth fleet, taking the total that have been reallocated regional towns to 22.
- We also phased out the MV Countess II, the older of our two ferries, following the May 2009 launch of the fully-accessible MV Phillip Pendal. This vessel replaced the MV Shelley Taylor-Smith as our primary ferry.
- The RAPID program to upgrade the technology on our older, A-series railcars was completed. This has significantly improved the level of security, information display and customer service.
- New stations were built at Victoria Park and Kelmscott, while the platforms at the Loch Street and Grant Street stations were expanded to make them able to take four-car trains.
One of the more significant developments was the introduction of free off-peak travel. In April 2009, all WA Seniors, plus aged and disability pensioners became entitled to free travel between 9am and 3.30pm on weekdays, and all day on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. Previously, only WA Seniors could access free travel, which was limited to Sundays and public holidays. This new government initiative has been enormously successful, almost doubling patronage by this demographic in the off peak, greatly enhancing our ability to draw new customers into our system, and providing a wonderful travel option for this very deserving group. In a further development, it was announced just before balance date that, from 1 July 2009, WA would be joining the national reciprocal public transport scheme under which seniors from each state are able to access concession fares on public transport systems across the country.
A year ago I said that we were on the brink of a public transport revolution. Though the global financial crisis has slowed the previously-frenetic pace of growth in WA, my opinion remains the same. It is significant that, for the first time, the Federal Government is supporting initiatives fundamental to the provision of infrastructure at a level needed to make our cities work efficiently. Meanwhile, the State Government has asked the PTA to prepare a 20-year plan to allow it to better understand how to develop the city, to identify key priorities and how they can best be addressed. An independent panel has been commissioned to provide this information and will report by the end of the year.
It is not appropriate to pre-empt that report but we already know that, while the population base will increase by 33 per cent over that period, demand for public transport is expected to double. We also know that WA is in the enviable position of being able to expand the passenger capacity of our rail network - which will continue to provide the major spine of our mass transit system - by 100-150 per cent without the need for major new infrastructure other than rollingstock.
Our industry is facing an exciting period of change and growth, and the PTA is looking forward to the challenge
Reece Waldock
Chief Executive Officer