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QLD students find a solution

Integration of student concessions with electronic payment welcomed in Queensland

A better electronic payment solution for Queensland students means those who have registered can receive automatic concessions with their go cards alone. 

A new online application will also streamline the process and the new system will replace the old Tertiary Transport Concession Card (TTCC), which formally had to be shown to access any discount.

“The new go card solution is the simplest, smartest and most integrated student concession travel in Australia,” Queensland minister for transport Stirling Hinchliffe says

“This delivers on Labor’s election commitment to work with higher education providers and develop an alternative to the TTCC that eliminates the need for tertiary students to carry an extra card to access concession fares.”

The old TTCC system was criticised for making public transport more inaccessible for students and placed a high administrative burden on tertiary institutions than was necessary.

TransLink worked with students from University of Queensland (UQ), Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and Griffith University to help develop the go card-based solution at the end of last year.

Eligible students won’t need to reapply every year for a concession under the new system and will be notified automatically if their status changes.

“The new online application process is quick and easy to complete and students will experience faster processing times and will be notified automatically by text or email when concession fares have been automatically applied to their go card,” Hinchliffe says.

Go cards are not used in regional Queensland, so under the new system eligible students will apply to their institution for a stand-alone concession sticker instead.

The system is very new, but 90 percent of students are already covered and the number of institutions accepting online applications will increase as more educational facilities come on board and all institutions should be online before semester one starts.

To give students time to apply, they are still able to continue to access concession fares by showing their student ID card when using public transport.

Post-secondary school students going on to study at a tertiary institution will still be able to travel on concession fares by showing their secondary school ID until March 31 this year.

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