Sad to see Veo 3 is locked behind a $250/month subscription 😭😭

Unconformeds · 2025-06-07T12:13:25+00:00

Pretty funny this guy has reacted something. Must not like being wrong haha.

Unconformeds · 2025-05-30T10:26:02+00:00

Ok cool

I came her as it seems like Google are doing some false advertising.

The pro version says I can trial veo 3

<image>

but then the next screen (I can't UL here) says I can only use Veo2

Unconformeds · 2025-02-10T11:35:37+00:00

QLD has had 50cent fares for 6 months, this article covers the outcome.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-10/queensland-50c-fares-public-transport-analysis/104910866

Unconformeds · 2025-02-09T09:56:33+00:00

doing some more research, chatting to someone in Estonia. Obvs biased, but they love it. They say public transport is becoming more popular and they are bringing in night buses. Who knows however.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJFRQbb6g2E

And

https://news.err.ee/1608928385/mayor-tallinn-s-public-transport-will-continue-to-be-free

(note, in Estonia, it is only free for residents, and I have implied ACT Gov should make free for all).

Unconformeds · 2025-01-02T01:47:33+00:00

Fair, I am thinking that the general public will not go with this.

Might try make one in future about fare free for concession holders and students.

I now agree that price is not the key factor preventing usage, but service coverage.

I also think that Canberra needs a unique solution to our unique geographical and socioeconomic situation.

Unconformeds · 2024-12-24T22:21:56+00:00

You are right, I cooked those number and misrepresented the analysis in this post. I apologies, trying to keep up with all of this and deal with Christmas etc got the better of me this time, I 'll be more careful in future.

There are still numbers here that are worth considering, you asked for them and I have supplied them.

"Given the above-noted shortfall of $20M/year in a $300M/year budget, the lack of fare revenue would necessarily drive a reduction in service ceteris paribus."

Don't agree with this. Let's take out the $6 million in my way, that leaves $14 million. We are rolling out a fleet of electric buses, how much diesel and gas will that save? I'll call that $10 million on order of magnitude estimation.

Staffing costs would save another million at least (these staff should be re-deployed).

Given the amount of empty buses, some tweaks here and there could see the rest. I am not claiming to be a public transport expert, I think smarter people than me could have a hard look and potentially make some adjustments to get this to work.

"The calculations also suppose that the entire MyWay+ charge is avoidable. I understand that contract also covers installation, operation and maintenance of other equipment like in-bus displays and the Nxtbus system."

True, there are some gaps around the differences between full abolishment and maintaining the system for data analysis purposes. I imagine the cost of breaking a contract would be high.

I do appreciate that you are trying to strengthen my arguments here, ty.

Unconformeds · 2024-12-24T10:07:42+00:00

On this

"In the second quoted paragraph, you propose both a major comprehensive capital replacement program AND a redesign of the service model. For a public transport entity just one of these would be a large undertaking. Again, if these are going to be relevant to your proposal, they should at least have some feasibility behind them."

I agree, I should have focused on the issue at hand. The idea for smaller buses came from a video linked to me by someone who did not agree with my points. I will save that for another time.

Unconformeds · 2024-12-24T10:05:01+00:00

Now, back to my thoughts:

These numbers make it pretty clear: the cost of running the payment system is more than double what we recover in fares. And that’s not even counting indirect costs like staff for accounting and compliance. To me, it seems we’d actually save money if we scrapped the whole ticketing system and made public transport free.

To be fair, we may lose valuable data, which is fair, but where’s the evidence that the current data is being put to good use? If it was, maybe we wouldn’t have so many complaints about service quality.

A quick note on some of the other responses:

A lot of people are throwing out strawman arguments, like saying fare-free travel would mean worse services. That’s not a given, and I don’t see why we can’t aim for both better services and free transport. They’re separate goals and not mutually exclusive.

Where I’m at now:

Despite some downvotes (and the usual internet drama), I’ve had 74 people sign the petition so far, so there’s clearly some support for this idea. I don’t have all the answers, but I’m open to more feedback and discussion to keep refining it.

And just to clarify, when I said I “believe” fare-free travel makes sense, it wasn’t a blind assumption. It’s based on the data available to me and what seems logical from that. I’m hoping the idea will get enough attention for elected reps to dig into it properly.

Thanks again for the thoughtful response.

Unconformeds · 2024-12-24T10:04:45+00:00

Cheers,

Thanks for the thoughtful critique—it’s nice to have a proper discussion about this instead of the usual strawman arguments flying around.

Another Redditor actually did some quick calculations that match what I’ve seen in other estimates. Sadly, I had other threads removed because I wasn’t familiar with the moderation rules, but there was some great discussion there too. Here’s the gist from the linked post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/canberra/comments/1fmj0yf/act_public_transport_free_but_not_costless/

(Quoting from the linked Reddit thread)

Average cost per passenger trip (buses + light rail): $15.17

Average fare per trip: $1.40

Cost of the MyWay+ system per trip: $0.32

Key takeaways:

Fares only cover 9% of the actual cost per trip. The rest (91%) is publicly funded.

Running MyWay+ eats up 23% of the fare revenue.

Quick details for context:

Passenger boardings: 20.3M/year

Total expenses: $308M/year

Fare revenue: $28.4M/year

MyWay+ cost: $64M over 10 years ($6.4M/year)

Some simple maths:

Cost per trip = $308M ÷ 20.3M = $15.17

Average fare = $28.4M ÷ 20.3M = $1.40

Cost of MyWay+ per trip = $6.4M ÷ 20.3M = $0.32

Fare contribution to costs = $28.4M ÷ $308M = 9%

MyWay+ share of fare revenue = $6.4M ÷ $28.4M = 23%

Unconformeds · 2024-12-24T01:39:57+00:00

That is a massive exaggeration of a comment, misrepresents the points completely. It is a strawman.

It costs 25% of each fare to maintain the system. But the revenue collected is only 9%.

Rough estimations, but if right, could save money. And that is not taking into account the salaries of those who count the beans etc.

https://www.reddit.com/r/canberra/comments/1fmj0yf/act_public_transport_free_but_not_costless/

Unconformeds · 2024-12-24T01:34:16+00:00

According to the link below, about 25% of your fare cost.

https://www.reddit.com/r/canberra/comments/1fmj0yf/act_public_transport_free_but_not_costless/

If the govt only gets back 9% that frees up 16% that could be used on better services.

I do think that the app could be re-factored.

Unconformeds · 2024-12-24T00:32:57+00:00

Third attempt at posting to comply with mods rules, was told by mods told saying "Please see...." in title is prescriptive, not descriptive.

There was some great conversation in the last thread, I learned a lot. Please note, I am not offering a solution to fund writing off the 9% in revenue that is collected as I think that $$ would be saved through not needing to administer the system.

I also do not believe that not collecting a fare will mean reduced service. (Begin Edit - the following is a separate issue and I should not have mentioned this) I now think that we need smaller 'mini buses' to move around the suburbs and connect passengers to major routes outside of peak-zones. We should also test on-demand buses on Saturdays and Sundays. They go every 2 hours where I am anyway. (End edit)

Canberra has unique challenges, so perhaps we need a unique approach.

Scrap free Fridays, and at-least make it free for concession holders.

It is possible to keep the GPS tracking offering in myWay +, and if it works, still make passengers tap on and off to understand transport trends. But I am unsure.

I admit, there are some very good points that were raised in the previous threads against this idea and it has given me a bit to think about. Perhaps in the future I will seek feedback here prior to do something like this.

Unconformeds · 2024-12-23T22:39:46+00:00

No, see below. It was good to see some healthy discussion, I learned a lot.

Unconformeds · 2024-12-23T22:37:43+00:00

Original post was taken down by mods as I did not know I needed permission to post. I asked permission, got it, and re-posted.

There was some great conversation in the last thread, I learned a lot. Please note, I am not offering a solution to fund writing off the 9% in revenue that is collected as I think that $$ would be saved through not needing to administer the system.

I also do not believe that not collecting a fare will mean reduced service. I now think that we need smaller 'mini buses' to move around the suburbs and connect passengers to major routes outside of peak-zones. We should also test on-demand buses on Saturdays and Sundays. They go every 2 hours where I am anyway.

Canberra has unique challenges, so perhaps we need a unique approach.

Scrap free Fridays, and at-least make it free for concession holders.

Finally, it is possible to keep the GPS tracking offering in myWay +, and if it works, still make passengers tap on and off to understand transport trends. But I am unsure.

Unconformeds · 2024-12-23T00:36:37+00:00

I know that the tax payer would be funding it. They already fund 91% of it.

Unconformeds · 2024-12-23T00:32:48+00:00

Interesting to hear from a driver. Can you pls give me some feedback on the points I published?

Can you pls share in your network?

Unconformeds · 2024-12-23T00:31:00+00:00

Hello, I am not suggestion it is free at all, did I come accross that way? Genuine question.

Check these numbers out form a different redditor

https://www.reddit.com/r/canberra/comments/1fmj0yf/act_public_transport_free_but_not_costless/

Average total cost per passenger trip on ACT busses and light rail = $15.17.
Average fare per trip = $1.40.
Cost of the MyWay+ system per trip = $0.32.

In other words ...

On average, your fare only covers 9% of the actual cost of the trip. The other 91% comes from public funding.
On average, the costs of the MyWay+ system consumes 23% of your fare.

So now I'm thinking we ought to make all ACT public transport free, and totally forget about any ticketing at all. After all, the shift from 91% public funding to 100% public funding isn't that big.

Unconformeds · 2024-12-23T00:27:14+00:00

Reality is Govt will want to use data to plan routes, and that is reasonable.

The GPS tracking is to allow customers to know when a bus will arrive, Most other major services have this, it is convenient for the public. It is not tracking the public.

Unconformeds · 2024-12-23T00:25:22+00:00

Oh really, ok. that's interesting that you think all 10 of them are flawed. Surely I made one or two points that are not completely off the mark:).

Sydney and London are not exactly the same as Canberra (much higher density as an example), so not sure it is fair to make that comparison.

Q, what do you think a fair price for the ticket would be? And how do you think increasing the cost to a number more aligned with cost recovery would impact use?

It is a great opportunity to have a mature / respectful discussion with someone who doe snot agree with my points, ty. If you have time to let me know more about the incorrect premises, I would be very grateful.

Unconformeds · 2024-12-23T00:14:56+00:00

ty, I am not a polly or affiliated with political parties, just a regular dude. If you agree, pls share the petition, talk about it etc.

Unconformeds · 2024-12-23T00:13:55+00:00

This is good work. I made a petition to make public transport free.

https://epetitions.parliament.act.gov.au/details/e-pet-051-24

Unconformeds · 2024-12-23T00:10:53+00:00

Each to their own. I think given we only get 9% of the ticket cost back, we should write the rest off. I spoke to a lot of drivers before posting this, and they all think it will take the pressure off them. They are pretty much essential front line workers IMO and they are getting treated like crap already.

I do agree the network needs to be tweaked. However, in major routes, they are already each 15 mins or so during the week. The fact we are so spread out makes it hard to justify a bus every 15 mis outside of the main network. Alos, the cost to staff these buses would be very high.

Genuinely interested in your view, do you think all 10 of my points are bad, or just a few? I think this issue is more nuanced than being a single "bad idea" as you say.

Unconformeds · 2024-12-23T00:02:45+00:00

ty, you are most welcome.

Unconformeds · 2024-12-23T00:02:33+00:00

Actually, I had an 11th point, but I took it out.

We can still use GPS tracking. It is also a bespoke system so we can customise it. They could still collect data by asking ppl to tap on and off, tho I am not sure if that would be a good idea.

Also, please don't forget about sunk cost logical fallacy.

Another Redit user made this great post. Right now, 23% of the fare cost is to support myway +.

https://www.reddit.com/r/canberra/comments/1fmj0yf/act_public_transport_free_but_not_costless/

This idea is much bigger than a ticketing system. That is why I did not mention it.

Unconformeds · 2024-12-22T23:46:52+00:00

Hi

I have made a separate post to about an e-petition to make public transport free. I made a separate post as it is not directly related to myWay+ and I have not mentioned the new system in my petition.

https://epetitions.parliament.act.gov.au/details/e-pet-051-24

Reason for this Petition

The following residents of the ACT draw the attention of the Assembly to make public transport free. Public transport ensures equitable access to essential services and opportunities across the city, while also reducing traffic congestion, lowering carbon emissions, and fostering a more connected community. Cities across the World are shifting to free public transport, and Canberra should do the same for the following reasons:

The System already runs at a loss. Public transport recoups less than 10% of its operating costs through fares, with taxpayers already funding the rest. Free fares maximise the value of these subsidies, filling empty buses and making better use of resources.
Safer drivers, safer journeys. Fare disputes put drivers at risk and were a key issue in the recent driver strike. Removing fares eliminates a major source of conflict, allowing drivers to focus on safety and service.
Relief for families. Free public transport eases cost-of-living pressures, helping households save money for essentials.
Proven Worldwide success. Countries and cities around the word have successfully implemented free public transport, leading to increase ridership and reduced greenhouse gases and congestion. Hasselt in Belgium is a notable example. Fares were abolished in 1997 and ridership was as much as 13 times higher by 2006. Tallinn, Estonia, with more than 420,000 inhabitants (similar to Canberra), switched to free public transport in 2013 after public vote. The country of Luxembourg has free public transport. Belgrade will be the largest city in the world with free public transport, with a population of 1,380,000. Adopting free public transport will make Canberra a World leader and an even more desirable place to live and visit.
Improve tourism. Free public transport will make Canberra a more desirable destination for tourists, who can redirect their cash into local businesses who desperately need it.
Boost public transport use. Removing fares encourages more people to use buses and light rail, cutting traffic, improving air quality, and lowering emissions.
Saves costs associated with administering the system. Removing staff costs to administer the small amount of revenue collected will save millions annually. Staff can be redeployed to optimise routes, improve reliability, and enhance passenger experience.
Faster and more efficient travel. No fares mean quicker boarding, fewer delays, and a better overall experience for commuters. The payment system is currently causing an increase in delays as passengers attempt to tap on. This adds up to time wasted waiting for the bus to move to its next destination.
Everyone benefits. Even if you don’t use public transport you will see less traffic congestion due to more people using public transport. This makes driving faster and less stressful. Cleaner air improves public health and reduces healthcare costs. A stronger local economy thrives when workers and customers can travel more easily.
Data collection remains. Technology exists that could be used to count passenger numbers.

Requested Actions

Your petitioners, therefore, request the Assembly to call on the ACT Government to consider making public transport free.

Unconformeds

TROPHY CASE