Scalpers are cashing in on the Translink free go card giveaway, selling “free” pre-loaded go cards on Bay, that were available for Queenslanders who did not already have a go card.
Scalpers are selling the Go Cards for the value of the pre-loaded credit on the card, claiming that buyers will save the cost of the initial purchase cost of the card.
Fiona Simpson, Shadow Minister for Transport and Main Roads, said that the scalping of the free go cards on eBay was a sign of the bungled giveaway and overall botched roll out of the go card system.
“The fact that someone has acquired 7 of the ‘free’ go cards and is hawking them on eBay, demonstrates that the Bligh government can’t even manage to give-away go cards without bungling it,” Ms Simpson said.
Ms Simpson questions why the “free” go card giveway wasn’t restricted to those individuals who would benefit most from the saving, such as pensioners, seniors and students, and wasn’t done in January when the fares were hiked up 40 per cent.
“The money that went into the latest giveaway would have been better off going into fixing public transport security issues.”
“Public transport fares were hiked 40 per cent in January, adding to the financial burden of families, pensioners and seniors. This giveaway was a chance to ease this burden, yet those in need missed out to scalpers who snaffled the cards up to hawk for a profit to themselves,” said Ms Simpson.
Fiona Simpson said that this latest situation is just another example of the botched go card roll out.
“The Go Card roll out has been plagued by problems, inefficiencies and failures since the beginning. Recently we found out that bus users are being inadvertently fined when the Go Card GPS has a blackout. The Bligh Government can’t seem to get anything right with Go Cards,” said Ms Simpson.
“We want a card system which actually works. There are many issues with the go card that need to be fixed,” Ms Simpson said.
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/NEW-Brisbane-Bus-Translink-Adult-Go-Card-10-credit-/330452586371?cmd=ViewItem&pt=AU_Transportation_Collectables&hash=item4cf0824f83