Interview worth listening to. Fantastic that buses are in the media. Service is absolutely critical. If you make buses free but don't improve the service (the path of least resistance, almost done in Qld with their 50c fares) then there's a risk people will try the bus, find their trip is 4 times longer than driving and go back to driving. That's counterproductive ('tried and didn't like' means a more hostile impression than 'not yet tried'). So if you do one it needs to be service first. And if you've got money to do both (service then making it free) then you are probably better off doubling down on service (including fixing our notorious 30 & 40 min train frequencies).
Listen to my chat with ABC 774's Sammy J about why we should make buses fair, frequent and free.
