The passenger transport industry and the community are encouraged to provide feedback on a key discussion paper as part of the Queensland Government's 10-year transport plan.
The Department of Transport and Main Roads is seeking responses to the road-based passenger transport discussion paper, which considers urban bus services, school transport, on-demand transport, long distance, personalised transport as well as community and courtesy transport services.
This discussion paper is open for feedback until November 18 and presents options and proposals that aim to:
· Make it clearer how services are classified and which authorisations and requirements apply;
· Apply more consistent safety requirements across services; and
· Encourage more innovation in service provision that provides more choice and mobility options to customers including more flexible services.
Head of Translink Sally Stannard said passenger transport services and the way people use them were changing due to the development of new technology.
"Customers now have a variety of transport options and services are expected to become even more tailored and personalised in the future,” Ms Stannard said.
"Laws are in place to make sure that passenger transport services are safe, accessible and affordable.
"We have some ideas about changes to the laws to make passenger transport work better in the future. We want laws that make it easier for providers to develop and offer new kinds of services.
"We also want to make it easy for everyone involved in providing passenger transport services – drivers, operators, registered operators of vehicles, booking entities and others – to understand the laws and how they apply. As always, safety needs to come first.
"We have outlined these ideas in the discussion paper and now we want feedback from the industry and the community."
Ms Stannard said the changes would support the Queensland Government to deliver Creating Better Connections for Queenslanders, which is a 10-year plan that sets out the priorities and key initiatives for passenger transport in the state.
"Feedback from stakeholders will help us understand the impact of these ideas and determine what changes should be made," she said.
"Anyone can provide feedback and we are particularly interested in hearing from industry about the impact these ideas will have.
"The responses are important to help improve the safety, reliability and flexibility of the passenger transport network."
To find out more, read the discussion paper and complete the survey, visit the Queensland Government’s Get Involved website at www.getinvolved.qld.gov.au.
You can also contact the Department of Transport and Main Roads directly and/or make a submission at regulatorysettings@tmr.qld.gov.au.
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