The Western Australian government has announced it has hit a record-breaking month for patrons on buses in Perth.
During January, a total of 5.9 million trips were had on Transperth buses along with 4.5 million train passengers and 108,605 passengers on ferries.
The government says the number of patrons on buses were the best on record, while the 10.51 million total boardings were the second highest figure ever recorded for the month, behind only the January 2013 figure of 10.59 million.
The WA government says the numbers come off the back of different public transport initiatives it introduced, including its Free Sumer of Public Transport, free transport for SmartRider users every Sunday and free travel to and from school for student SmartRider users.
“The WA government is committed to addressing cost of living issues that we know are affecting many families across Perth,” WA transport minister Rita Saffioti says.
“We know that travel is often a regular expense that can be hard to cut back on, especially when there is a need to get to work or the kids to school.
“That’s why our government has introduced several cost-saving measures on our public transport system, making it a more enticing, and importantly a more affordable, option to help get people from A to B.
“What these statistics show is that these measures are appreciated by Perth families, and as such, we are seeing our public transport system, in which we continue to invest heavily, become increasingly well utilised.”