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Students in suits

People who falsely use Queensland’s Tertiary Transport Concession Card to be targeted

As many as 65,000 people could be fined for fare evading following the introduction of the Queensland Government’s Tertiary Transport Concession Card.

Transport and Main Roads Minister Scott Emerson says the new card has been brought in to crack down on public transport users falsely claiming to be full-time university students in order to receive half-price fares.

“While we estimate 85,000 students are eligible for a concession in South East Queensland, almost double that number or about 150,000 people have used a Tertiary student go card this year,” he says.

 “For years, passengers have raised concerns about ‘students in suits’ where former students who are no longer enrolled in full-time courses continue to use their old ID to get cheap travel.”

Emerson says this practice is unfair to honest passengers and rorting puts more upward pressure on fares.

 “We applaud the 65,000 students who have done the right thing and applied for a Tertiary Transport Concession Card and encourage other eligible students to apply now.”

He says from July 1 anyone caught catching public transport on a concession fare without this card will be fined.

Senior Network Officers have been handing out information to students advising them about the need to get the new cards since it was introduced earlier this year.

“The grace period is now up and if you do the wrong thing on our network you will be caught and risk fines of up to $227,” he says.

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