The Opposition is calling on the Malinauskas Labor Government to immediately refund all bus users who have been overcharged due to an error on Adelaide’s public transport network.
When the clocks jumped forward on Sunday morning for the start of daylight saving time, Adelaide’s transit system didn’t follow suit – meaning card validation scanners displayed the wrong time and a number of off-peak commuters were overcharged for their journey.
The Opposition understands the time error still hadn’t been rectified as of yesterday.
Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Vincent Tarzia, said Labor must ensure all overcharged South Australians receive refunds in a timely manner.
“We want to see more South Australians using public transport – especially as public transport patronage hasn’t returned to pre-COVID levels – but we fear incidents like this just set us back,” Mr Tarzia said.
“Daylight saving is not a new phenomenon in South Australia by any means, so this error shouldn’t have happened in the first place – let alone taken three or four days to fix.
“This is hardly the fault of commuters just going about their daily business, so we don’t believe the onus should be on them to chase up refunds.
“We believe the failure to address this issue promptly not only creates an unnecessary financial burden but sends the wrong message to public transport users and may very well discourage them from using our buses, trains and trams in the future.
“South Australia is in the grips of a cost of living crisis right now and every single dollar counts – so for some, this extra charge could mean the difference between being able to ride the bus or not.
“The Malinauskas Labor Government must act swiftly and refund every South Australian who was overcharged and restore faith in our public transport system.
“Hurry up and fix the clocks and fix the fares – it’s only fair.”
