Target 63: Use of public transport

Increase the use of public transport to 10% of metropolitan weekday passenger vehicle kilometres travelled by 2018.

(the department is lead agency for this target)

The estimated metropolitan public transport patronage in 2014‑15 was 6.8 per cent of total public transport and car use (source: Australian Bureau of Statistics), up from 2013‑14 due to the completion of improvements such as the extension of the Seaford rail line.

Improvements in Adelaide Metro technology and monitoring enabled the recording of all free trips for the first time: patrons made more than 8 million free trips using free services such as the Adelaide Oval Footy Express, City Connector, Free City Tram and Free Jetty Road Glenelg Tram. With the inclusion of all free travel, the estimated metropolitan public transport patronage in 2014-15 was 7.2 per cent of total public transport and car use (source: ABS, DIT).

Other initiatives and actions to increase public transport use include:

• introduction of double decker buses, with more seating capacity than rigid and articulated buses, on Adelaide Hills routes and Jet Express airport transfers
• introduction of new electric railcars on the Seaford and Tonsley lines, bringing the total to 19 sets
• re-profiling of rail tracks (rail milling) to improve train ride quality and infrastructure
• improvements to Adelaide Metro’s online Journey Planner to make it more responsive and user friendly, enabling quicker planning of public transport journeys
• expanded use of GPS data from the Metrocard system to optimise real-time passenger information and journey planning, and improve performance monitoring of the bus network to assist more accurate planning of future services
• completed expansions of Park ‘n’ Ride facilities at Smithfield (extra 136 spaces) and Noarlunga (extra 189 spaces)
• completed upgrades at Broadmeadows and Parafield stations
• continued investigations, in cooperation with UniSA, into development of an inner city bus depot at a vacant site on Currie Street.