TransLink Transit Authority Annual Report 2010–2011
Please note that this easy read format of the document does not include the TransLink Transit Authority and TransLink Transit Authority Employing Office financial statements and compliance checklists as included in the PDF version of this document and that page references other than the contents page refer to pages in the PDF version. If you would like to access this information please contact our Corporate Affairs Manager on: Phone: +61 (07) 3338 4000 Fax: +61 (07) 3338 4600 Email:
TransLink Transit Authority
Level 13, 420 George Street,Brisbane Q 4000
GPO Box 50, Brisbane Q 4001Fax: (07) 3338 4600
Website: translink.com.au
16 September 2011
The Honourable Annastacia Palaszczuk MP
Minister for Transport and Multicultural Affairs
GPO Box 2644Brisbane Qld 4001
Dear Minister Palaszczuk,
TransLink Transit Authority Annual Report 2010–11– Letter of compliance
I am pleased to present the TransLink Transit Authority Annual Report 2010–11 for the TransLink Transit Authority and the TransLink Transit Authority Employing Office.I certify this annual report complies with: the prescribed requirements of the Financial Accountability Act 2009 and the Financial and Performance Management Standard 2009, and the detailed requirements set out in the Annual Report Requirements for Queensland Government Agencies. A checklist outlining the annual reporting requirements canbe found on pages 167–168 of this annual report or accessed at translink.com.au.
Yours sincerely,
Peter Strachan
Chief Executive Officer
TransLink Transit Authority
TransLink
Making travel easy
The TransLink Transit Authority delivers bus, train and ferry services, information,ticketing and infrastructure across South East Queensland – one of the largestintegrated public transport networks in the world.We work with 19 primary service deliverypartners to deliver services across anetwork that stretches from Gympiein the north to Coolangatta in the southand west to Helidon.Managing a record $1.4 billion investmentin the public transport network we cateredfor more than 178 million passenger tripsin 2010–11 to deliver on our vision ofmaking travel easy.
Welcome to the TransLink Transit Authority Annual Report for the2010–11 financial year.This annual report has been developed for the Queensland Ministerfor Transport and Multicultural Affairs and our other key stakeholdersincluding our customers, our delivery partners, government,our employees and members of the broader community.Our report this year places our customers and our community inthe spotlight. It outlines the key challenges TransLink faces, thestrategies we are implementing to help meet them and provides asummary of how we have sought to deliver the best possible publictransport for our customers and community.This report contains financial statements and a summary ofTransLink’s financial and non-financial performance for 2010–11,in line with the targets and objectives outlined in the TransLinkTransit Authority Strategic Plan 2010–2015 and the 2010–11Queensland State Budget – Service Delivery Statements.It complies with TransLink’s legislative reporting requirementsunder the Financial Accountability Act 2009, Transport Operations(TransLink Transit Authority) Act 2008 and the QueenslandGovernment’s annual report requirements for QueenslandGovernment agencies for the 2010–11 period.
How to read this report
Our vision for the TransLink network is making travel easy. TheTransLink Transit Authority Strategic Plan 2010–2015 outlinesfive objectives that will guide our business activities to help us deliverthis simple, yet ambitious vision. Throughout this year’s report, wehave included icon references to demonstrate where a particularproject or strategy is helping achieve one of our strategic objectives. Quality Customer ServiceEffective Stakeholder EngagementAchieve Business ExcellenceManage the NetworkFinancial Sustainability
Contents
Message from the Chair...... 5
Chief Executive Officer’s report...... 7
Our plan for the future...... 11
About TransLink...... 12
Our partnerships...... 17
Our customers and community...... 33
Our network...... 44
Our fares and ticketing...... 66
Our social responsibility...... 77
Our people strategy...... 87
Our governance...... 96
Financial Statements...... 118
Glossary...... 121
We welcome your feedback...... 130
Our 2010–11 highlights
- $1.4 billioninvested to deliver the TransLink network in 2010–11
- $128.2 millioninvested in new and improvedpublic transport infrastructure
- 8 days offree travelfor the community during thetravel information and assistance provided to more than South East Queensland flood recovery
- 31 million visitorsto the TransLink website
- 308 000new weekly public transport seatsacross the network
- Simpler, morefrequent, morecomfortabletrain servicesdelivered through the biggest recast of theIpswich, Caboolture and Sunshine Coasttrain timetables in more than a decade
- go card namedAustralia’s bestpublic transportsmartcard
- Up to 80% of tripsnow made using go card
- 2 million go cardsnow issued across South East Queensland
- 178.6 millionpublic transport trips acrossSouth East Queensland– the equivalent of 148.7 millionless car trips on our roads
Message from the Chair
TransLink made great strides this yeartowards making travel easy by strengtheningits relationships with customers and thebroader community.Supporting our customers and communityis a theme that has repeated throughout2010–11 and is reflected in every sectionof this year’s report.This relationship with our most important ofstakeholders – our customers – is vital toenable TransLink to manage the QueenslandGovernment’s record billion-dollar investmentas wisely as possible. Increasing ourengagement with our customers will enableus to deliver on our fundamental purpose toprovide a public transport networkthat meets the needs of the South EastQueensland community.
January floods
The January 2011 floods really tested therobustness of the public transport system, thestrength of our relationships with our servicedelivery partners, and the effectiveness of ourcrisis management plan in helping keepingTransLink operational, despite the evacuationof staff from our Brisbane offices.While many lessons about crisis managementwere learned – and this applies to mostorganisations – I was very proud of the wayin which TransLink and our service deliverypartners were able to maintain a remarkablelevel of transport services during the floods.
Customer highlights
While there have been many this year, somekey achievements that I have been particularlyproud of include the establishment of apermanent Helping Hands workforce andthe continuation of the go ready customereducation program to provide customerswith face-to-face public transport informationin the community.The continued recruitment of our SeniorNetwork Officer force was also a highlight,undertaking vital revenue protection andcustomer assistance activities across theTransLink network.Whenever I travel on TransLink services,I continue to encounter and appreciateindividual instances of great customerservice provided by employees of TransLink,Queensland Rail, Brisbane Transport and ourmany private delivery partners. It is gratifyingto witness first-hand how staff are takingpride in doing their part to help to maketravel easy for our customers.Our relationship with our operators and localcouncil authorities also moved from strengthto strength in 2010–11, with meetings of theTransLink Board regularly held in differentlocal authority areas. This year we met withmany stakeholders across our region todiscuss local public transport matters andencourage continued local governmentcommitment to public transport in SouthEast Queensland.
Continued commitment
Over the past year, the hard-working employees of TransLink and our servicedelivery partners have continued todemonstrate their enthusiasm to delivera quality customer experience. I thankeach and every one of them for thesignificant contribution they havemade to our organisation.In particular, I wish to sincerely thankTransLink’s departing Chief Executive Officer,Peter Strachan for the vision and drive hehas brought to the TransLink organisationduring his two and a half years in the role.He has left a very strong platform fromwhich I’m sure TransLink will continue togrow and develop.On behalf of the members of the TransLinkBoard I wish Peter well in his new role asDirector-General in the United KingdomGovernment’s Department of Transportwhere he will be responsible for MajorProjects in London.My thanks also must go to the HonourableAnnastacia Palaszczuk MP for her directionand support since becoming Minister forTransport and Multicultural Affairs in early2011. We greatly appreciate her community focusand commitment to supportingTransLink in its aim to deliver a qualitypublic transport network.When one looks at public transport inAustralia, it is hard to escape the conclusionthat TransLink is well placed in terms of threegreat advantages our system offers. Thefirst was the decision to establish TransLinkas a statutory authority, with responsibilityfor managing and coordinating the deliveryof integrated public transport services forSouth East Queensland. The second wasthe introduction of smartcard ticketing andthe potential the successful go card productoffers for future enhancements. The third isSouth East Queensland’s extensive worldclassbusway network which continues toexpand to provide fast, frequent and reliablebus services for our customers.Through these innovations and the manyothers TransLink has achieved, I am confidentthat we will continue to deliver a qualitypublic transport system for the people ofSouth East Queensland.
Geoff Harley
Chair
Chief ExecutiveOfficer’s report
For many Queenslanders, the past year will be remembered asone of our most challenging. The devastating floods that affectedthree quarters of our state had a significant impact on the lives ofmany here in South East Queensland.The floods also had a significant effect on the TransLinknetwork causing millions of dollars’ worth of damage to vitalpublic transport infrastructure. While much of the region’s railinfrastructure was able to be quite quickly restored there areparts of Brisbane’s ferry network that have needed to becompletely rebuilt.While the start of 2011 brought disaster to South EastQueensland, it also brought to the fore the power of community.If nothing else, the two weeks following the flood’s peak showedus just how much we can achieve when we work together to getour region get back on its feet.
Putting our customers and communityat the heart of our business
The importance of community is a lesson TransLink is takingto heart this year. It’s a lesson that has resonated across manyof our activities, from our flood response efforts with our deliverypartners to our increased engagement with customers and thecommunity on key service and infrastructure projects.Our customers and our community have been the drivingforce behind many of the improvements we have made thisyear and this renewed focus has been reflected in an increasein our overall customer satisfaction index from 69 in 2009–10to 70 in 2010–11.Other key highlights in 2010–11 include:
- working with our service delivery partners to get 96 per centof South East Queensland’s public transport network back upand running in a matter of days after the floods
- delivering an additional 308 000 new weekly public transportseats across the network, providing customers with accessto additional services and a more comfortable ride
- recognition of TransLink’s go card as the best public transportsmart card in Australia – catering for up to 80 per cent of alltrips taken on the TransLink network.
- launching a new go card daily fare cap for our seniorand pensioner customers, providing a more affordabletravel option
- implementing our new corporate socialresponsibility framework and becomingpledge signatories of the worldwideInternational Association of PublicTransport (UITP) SustainableDevelopment Charter
Managing increasing coststo deliver new services
We operate in a challenging environmentwhere less than a quarter of the costsof delivering public transport servicesis recouped from the fares that ourcustomers pay.Securing the network’s long-term financialsustainability is a challenge that we againfaced in 2010–11.I am pleased to say that, despite our costchallenges, we again delivered on ourpromise to add more seats to the publictransport network with the introduction of308 000 new weekly seats. These seatsare in addition to the 301 000 new seatsthat were delivered last financial year.Listening more closelyto our communityTransLink learned a valuable lesson inthe importance of community consultationduring the rollout of the FlexiLink taxiservice in parts of Ipswich in December 2010.Based on these learnings we have madeimprovements to our consultation processthat put our customers and community at theheart of our decision making. Communityfeedback played a large part in the successfulrestructure of the Ipswich and Caboolturetrain timetable changes undertaken jointly byTransLink and Queensland Rail in June 2011.During the consultation period, we receivedmore than 2000 individual pieces of feedbackfrom customers that directly contributedto making improvements to the newtrain timetables.
A team committed tomaking a difference
We continue to build our relationshipswith our delivery partners and governmentstakeholders as we work together to deliverbetter public transport for the community.The true strength of our partnership cameto the fore during the January floods. Withlarge areas of the network badly affected weworked closely with our delivery partners andthe Department of Transport and Main Roadsthrough TransLink’s Crisis ManagementTeam, to keep South East Queenslandmoving. Together, we were able to restoremuch of the public transport network withina matter of days – a remarkable achievementand one I am proud the TransLink family wasable to deliver.These efforts were further supported by aneight day period where TransLink providedfree public transport to customers to help getthe region back up and moving again.The commitment demonstrated by ouremployees and that of our delivery partnersduring the floods will remain a personalhighlight for me during my time as ChiefExecutive Officer of TransLink.This commitment to the community wasagain reflected in our internal Values Surveyresults for 2011. I was pleased and veryproud to see that our staff rated ‘making adifference in the community’ as the numberone reason they choose to work at TransLink.
Moving forward
I make no secret of my belief that publictransport is all about the three “Cs” –customers, customers, customers. Butit might just as easily be said that publictransport is about that other “C” – thecommunity – who we are here to serve.As the TransLink network continues togrow and develop, it is essential that wedeliver services that meet both the needsof customers and the broader community.In the year ahead, TransLink will look toembrace new technologies, such as thepilot of our real-time information system,to provide an even better customerexperience. Making the most of whatsmartcard technology has to offer willalso be a priority, as we build on go card’ssuccess to deliver products that meet ourcommunity’s needs. TransLink will achievethis by continuing to put our customersfirst and delivering on our vision ofmaking travel easy.
Peter Strachan
Chief Executive Officer
OurCalendar2010–11
July 2010One millionth go card issuedLaunch of the TransLink mobilewebsite.
August 2010go card named Australia’s best publictransport smartcardRelease of Draft Connecting SEQ 2031– a twenty year transport plan for SouthEast Queensland7500 seats per week rolled outon the Caboolture train lineSod-turning for $949 millionGold Coast Rapid Transit project.
September 2010More than 330 charities receive over100 000 free go cardsAnnouncement of new $2 millionbus station at Redbank PlazaOpening of Morayfield park ‘n’ rideextension with 87 extra car parksOpening of Ormiston park ‘n’ rideextension with 102 new car parksand new cycle facilities.
October 2010Opening of Bray Park park ‘n’ rideextension with 76 new car parksand cycle facilities.
November 2010TransLink’s Tracker shows publictransport customer complaints atall time lowLaunch of new Seniors Card +goAnnouncement of $2.3 millionupgrade for Oxley Train Station.
December 2010Route 88 introduced addingmore than 41 000 weekly seatsOpening of award-winning$8 million Yeerongpilly Footbridge11 000 new weekly seats introducedwith a new permanent airport busservice for the Sunshine Coast.
January 2011$40 million Richlands train stationopens early following the floodsRoll out of 26 new go card top-upmachines on CityCats and CityFerriesJanuary fare changes includingintroduction of new daily go cardcaps for seniors and pensionersEight days of free public transportprovided to assist with flood recovery.
February 201110 000th Seniors Card +go issued4950 additional weekly seats introducedwith a new Back to Uni bus package.
March 2011Announcement of $11.4 millionreal-time passenger information pilotAdditional 14 Senior Network Officersadded to the networkSod turned on $800 000 renovationworks at Deagon Train Station.
April 2011go card auto top-up users hit 100 000Superbus project awarded Best FinanceInnovation Award for the Asia-Pacificregion at the UITP PTx2 awards.
May 2011Fixed fares rise in a further pushto reduce fare evasionSouth East Busway celebrates10 years serving BrisbaneOpening of new $7.2 millionKlumpp Road park ‘n’ ride with199 new car parking spacesAnnouncement of preferred bidder forthe Gold Coast Rapid Transit light railsystem.
June 2011Two millionth go card issuedMore than 150 000 weekly seats addedto the network in the biggest changeto South East Queensland traintimetables in more than a decadeEarly works start on the new$2.2 million Logan Central busstation on Wembley Road.
Our plan for the future
More services
A review of train timetables on the Cleveland, Beenleigh, GoldCoast, Doomben, Ferny Grove and Shorncliffe lines todeliver more frequent, more reliable train services.Rolling out 100 000 new weekly bus seats with a new packageof bus services using the new Eastern Busway extension.Introducing at least 125 new and replacement equivalent buses.Continuing the introduction of new High Frequency Priority busroutes to the network.Better service schedules and better timetabling, through therollout of our new, state-of-the-art transport scheduling softwareprogram, HASTUS.
New infrastructure
Opening of the $466 million Eastern Busway extension linkingBuranda to Coorparoo, including new Stones Corner andLanglands Park busway stations.Continuing the $100 million Ferny Grove to Keperra upgradeproject, including track duplication and state-of-the-art revampof Ferny Grove train station.$4 million upgrade of the Peninsula Fair Shopping Centrebus station at Kippa-Ring.New and improved park ‘n’ ride facilities at Ferny Grove,Cooroy, Zillmere, Rosewood, Birkdale and Sandgate trainstations and bus stops at The Gap (Enoggera Reservoir),Jindalee and Capalaba.New and improved bus stations at Maroochydore,Logan Central and North Lakes.Enhancements to train stations at Narangba, Alderley, Sandgate,Eagle Junction, Toowong, Nambour and South Brisbane.
Better customer information
Launch of our new real-time passenger information pilot, todeliver real-time bus departure times direct to customers.Keeping our customers connected on the move with innovativenew on-board technologies.More improvements to TransLink’s website and mobile journeyplanner to make it even more customer friendly.Continuing our go ready customer education program to assistcustomers with becoming more familiar with using go card.Improvements to the way we deliver passenger information– onboard, on-station and online.