New Public Transport Minister, Ben Carroll’s decision to backflip on public transport daily performance data has left a three-week black hole in data provided to the community.
Getting off to a bad start, one of Minister Carroll’s first decisions on being sworn in as Public Transport Minister was to keep collecting but stop publication of embarrassing daily metropolitan train, tram and V/Line performance data.
Exactly one month later, embarrassed again, but this time by the Liberal Nationals drawing attention to Minister Carroll’s decision to stop publishing data that had been routinely published for years to the attention of the media, Minister Carroll back-flipped.
The previous seven daily public transport daily performance data has been published but not the missing three weeks, leaving the public in the dark.
More regularly published data has also been stopped and must also be reinstated. The Public Transport Victoria Quarterly Track Record, which details things like operator payments, customer satisfaction, mystery shopping, customer service, travel behaviour and ticketing and industry-wide feedback was also axed and is yet to be reinstated.
What is the point of collecting all this data on our public transport system if no one gets to see it?
Minister Carroll’s job is to run an efficient, timely, safe and reliable public transport system. Not to collect expensive data that no one gets to see, simply because it might say he is not doing his job properly.
