Welcome to the Autumn 2017 edition of On Track and happy birthday to us! In our thirteen years as the only independent dispute resolution service for public transport complaints in Victoria, we have helped consumers with more than 31,000 complaints and enquiries about public transport. We have also seen our membership increase and an expansion in our role in the development of public transport and consumer protection policy.

Penalty fares were abolished at the start of the year and early signs indicate that consumers are finding the new simplified regime of warnings and fines easier to navigate. Approaches to our offices about fare enforcement generally have reduced almost 30%, to 591 financial year to date, from 822 at this time last year. This is in line with our expectations, and we will continue to watch this space to ensure that the right balance is maintained between fare enforcement, education and consumer rights.

The PTO has been out and about in the community, attending Orientation week events at metropolitan and regional universities and talking to students about the public transport issues that concern them. We also attended a disability forum in Bendigo to discuss complaints around public transport and accessibility.

We have been doing some work with WEstjustice, a legal service in the western suburbs of Melbourne, looking at the public transport issues facing high school students who are couch surfing because they unable to live at home. Doing this work in the space of youth homelessness has inspired some of our staff to form a PTO team to sleep at the ‘G on 4 May, in support of Melbourne City Mission and their services to the homeless.

With the closure of the City Square, the work on the Melbourne Metro Tunnel is moving into a new phase. It is inevitable that major infrastructure changes such as these will impact the community. We look forward to continuing to work with our members to ensure that affected consumers are considered, informed and have an effective avenue for any complaints.

The directors on our Board all bring something extra to support the work and strategic direction of the PTO. In addition to three directors who have experience in the public transport industry, we have three consumer directors who represent the interests of the people who use public transport and an independent Chair. Of the seven PTO board members, four are women.

Llewellyn Prain, one of the PTO’s consumer directors, provides a consumer perspective on the Board, ensuring there is a balanced dialogue between those representing the interests of industry and those representing the interests of consumers. This is in addition to her primary responsibilities as a company director to ensure good governance and guide strategic planning. Llewellyn has worked as a commercial litigation lawyer and in senior roles at a number of government agencies. She is currently a director of Western Water, the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, the Disability Services Board and the Public Transport Ombudsman.

Llewellyn ensures that consumers have a voice when it comes to the direction of the PTO and how it goes about its business. “Public transport is an essential service for the community and the PTO is an important mechanism for people to have their complaints heard and to raise systemic issues”.

From her teenage years, travelling on V/Line services from Bendigo to Melbourne, Llewellyn has been an enthusiastic user of Victoria’s public transport. She uses all modes of public transport, including regular trips to Sunbury for board meetings of Western Water. Public transport is now her number one mode of transport.

A familiarity with the public transport system has stood Llewellyn in good stead, as she suffered a significant loss of vision in 2014. “Luckily I have a good visual memory of public transport, which helps me to navigate now. The mobility training I did with Vision Australia to stay safe around public transport has also been very useful”.

Travelling during peak times is now more of a challenge, and Llewellyn has insight into some of the issues that impact accessibility. “The new tram announcements and Metro’s Stop Here app are great, but it can be challenging dealing with unscheduled service disruptions.” Her experience however, has been that people are generally pretty helpful.

Moving forward, Llewellyn is keen to see a shift in attitudes towards people with disability. She believes that it is very important for the public to see people with disability in leadership roles.
More generally, the PTO Board and Ombudsman are committed to ensuring that accessibility and diversity continue to be priorities for the PTO as it grows and evolves in response to the changing public transport landscape.

Our case studies give the community and our operators a look into the work we do, how we go about resolving cases between operators and consumers and the positive outcomes that can be achieved for everyone involved.

Wheelchair Access on a Bus

Lea was travelling home by bus. When she reached her stop, the driver lowered the bus ramp so she could exit with her wheelchair, but he did not lower the bus. Lea told us that as a result the ramp was too steep and she fell out of her wheelchair. Luckily she wasn’t injured, but her wheelchair was damaged. The bus driver did not apologise, instead he told her that it was her fault and she should have been going slower as she exited.

The bus company initially did not accept that the incident occurred because the driver failed to lower the bus. We looked at CCTV footage which confirmed Lea’s version of events and went back to the bus company for more information.
The bus company advised us that at the time of the incident they didn’t have a documented practice that instructed drivers to lower the bus prior to putting out the ramp. The bus company contacted the manufacturer of the bus for advice. As a result, the manufacturer issued a bulletin on operation of the ramp which makes it clear that the bus must have the front suspension lowered before the ramp is used by passengers. The bus company confirmed that the bulletin was issued to all bus drivers and it is now a procedure they must all follow.

The bus company apologised to Lea for her experience and advised that a number of steps have been taken to make bus drivers aware of the procedure for using a ramp. If for any reason the driver does not lower the ramp automatically, Lea is able to ask the driver to do so. The bus company also asked Lea to contact them if she had any problems in future.

Lea advised us that the damage to her wheelchair was repaired without cost. Lea was satisfied with the bus company’s response to her complaint and our investigation was finalised on that basis.

Level Crossing Removal Work

Simon lives in an apartment near a level crossing removal site. His apartment is just above an area where excess soil is dumped, and over several weeks his balcony has been splashed with mud and he can no longer use his outdoor area. His outdoor furniture, barbeque and the glass face of his balcony are all covered in mud.

Simon complained to VicTrack, as owner of the land on which the works were taking place, but says he did not receive a response from them. He was however contacted by a project manager for the Level Crossing Removal Authority (LXRA) who arranged to visit his home to look at the balcony, but then cancelled the meeting. He had provided photos of the balcony to the project manager on several occasions, however he did not get a response.

As part of our investigation of Simon’s complaint, we contacted VicTrack and established that they were not responsible for the works that had affected his property. We then contacted LXRA and asked them to address Simon’s concerns.
LXRA advised us that the project team responsible for that site did not dispute Simon’s claim for cleaning his property. They got permission for the cleaning company to contact Simon directly to arrange a time to clean the balcony. They also advised that Simon’s initial contact with the project team was not followed up because the staff member he had been dealing with had left the project and Simon’s emails were not passed on. The project team apologised directly to Simon for this and LXRA has taken steps to make sure this doesn’t happen again in future. LXRA has also offered Simon complimentary movie tickets as a gesture of goodwill, acknowledging the inconvenience he has suffered.

Simon contacted us again after the cleaning had taken place and told us that the tint on his glass balcony also appeared to have been damaged by the LXRA works. We raised this with LXRA who advised us that all of the materials used at the site were non-corrosive, non-hazardous and could not have caused the damage, and that it appeared the damage to the glass tint was more longstanding. Simon accepted this explanation and confirmed that the matter was now resolved to his satisfaction.

myki Pass Activation and Expiry

Maik complained to us that he was charged myki money when he travelled believing he should have been charged a day of his pass. He advised us that he had a weekly pass on his card and that this should have been activated when he touched on. When he contacted PTV he was given conflicting information about why this had happened. He said that he had spoken to customer service face to face several times, but had been unable to resolve his complaint.

In the course of our investigation, we asked PTV to provide information about Maik’s myki pass. PTV advised us that Maik purchased a 7 day pass on 23 May 2015 which was not activated. Maik then didn’t use his myki until 28 May 2016.

Because it was more than 12 months since he had purchased the pass it had expired, and he was charged myki money for his travel.

The Victorian Fares and Ticketing Manual (VFTM), which sets out the conditions of travel with myki, states that a pass must be activated within 12 months or it will expire. To resolve Maik’s complaint, PTV offered to refund the cost of a 7 day pass and the cost of the myki (as the myki would be cancelled as part of the refund process). The total refund offered by PTV was $45.

Maik accepted PTV’s offer and our investigation was finalised.

Resolving individual complaints is a large part of what we do, but we also get out into the community to engage with people, understand their views and concerns about public transport and promote the ways in which we can help.

 

OUT AND ABOUT - PTO IN THE COMMUNITY

O-Week

We kicked off our student outreach roadshow by heading to O-Week in February and March across major universities in Victoria: Monash Caulfield, Melbourne Uni, RMIT, La Trobe Bendigo and La Trobe in Bundoora. We chatted to all kinds of students, from those who were had just landed in Australia and were eagerly starting a new course to local and veteran postgrad students.

By partnering with PTV on some campuses, we were able to give students a one-stop shop to answer all their general questions about public transport and let them know they have options and an avenue for complaints or advice should they encounter any problems.

Our PTO branded myki holders were very popular (especially with international students!) and we gave away over 1000 of them throughout our roadshow across O-week.

Our Choice Expo

We recently headed to an expo for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and its supporters in Bendigo. Supported by the City of Greater Bendigo, more than 60 different service providers including Parks Victoria, the Financial Services Ombudsman and the Disability Services Commissioner gathered to meet with and engage residents of the Loddon community.

We listened to a lot of public transport stories, experiences and concerns from the community and were also able to provide PTO information and on-the-spot referrals to relevant support services. The matters raised by members of the community continue to inform us and give us oversight into the issues faced by Loddon area residents and other transport consumers.

 

LOOKING AHEAD

Sleep at the ‘G

Our next major community initiative will take us under the stars as we prepare to sleep rough for ‘Sleep at the ‘G’ to raise vital funds for the Melbourne City Mission on Thursday 4 May.

Melbourne City Mission supports more than 5000 young people a week who are forced to live in unsafe housing, crash on couches and in many cases end up sleeping on the street. The funds we help raise will contribute to providing emergency accommodation, refuge and a variety of essential support services for these young people in our community. To learn more or find out how your organisation can help put youth homelessness to bed, visit Sleep at the ‘G.

TOP 5 MAJOR ISSUES

The top five issues over the financial year to date show a decrease in myki complaints that is in proportion with the overall decrease in complaint numbers. Approaches to our office about infringement notices have shown a more significant reduction, reducing to 393 (June to March) from 593 at the same time last year.

The proportion of Infrastructure and service delivery complaints increased over the same period. This is likely as a result of increased infrastructure works around Victoria such as the level crossing removal project. There has also been an increase in approaches from bus commuters relating to service delivery issues – rising to 200 (June to March) compared to 121 at the same time last year.

Please note figures represent all enquiries/complaints received 1 July 2016 – 31 March 2017.

 

TOP 10 CONTACTS BY POSTCODE^*

 

COMPLAINTS AND ENQUIRIES FROM CONSUMERS BY PTO MEMBER

 

WHO CONTACTED US