In response, Rail Back on Track lobbyist Robert Dow called for a daily fare cap for all users that would grant them free travel after they made several journeys in a day. He also suggested a periodical option whereby Go Card users could choose to make an up-front payment in return for unrestricted travel in selected zones within a set period. This would effectively work as a smart card version of the now-scrapped seasonal paper tickets, which allowed commuters to make savings by buying weekly or monthly saver passes. Melbourne's Myki smart card system allows regular commuters to load up with “pass credit” that covers all travel in specified zones for seven days, four weeks, or one year. Ms Palaszczuk, who was sworn in to her new transport role last week, would not rule in or out any options last night but said she would look for Go Card improvements.

“If there are ways to enhance Go Card without cutting back on vital transport infrastructure projects like bringing forward the Springfield rail line extension and station by two years, then we'll explore those options,” she said in a written response to questions. Ms Palaszczuk said she had listened to the views of commuter, welfare, senior and student interest groups at a meeting yesterday and would work with them to address issues. However, she sang the praises of the Go Card system. Ms Palaszczuk said authorities had overcome the early challenges of its establishment with patronage and customer satisfaction both increasing. “We should be proud of that but not self-satisfied,” she said. “The journey has not stopped nor should we stop listening to the opinion of commuters.”

Mr Dow, who led the charge for daily fare capping and other incentives, said he was confident commuters would benefit from additional fare enhancements in the future. “We welcome the acknowledgement by the minister some of these things probably do need further work,” he said last night. “We'd like a real commitment to indicate further fare enhancements on the Go Card. We think it's time.” Mr Dow said the government still seemed to think it would lose money by introducing daily capping and periodical options, but this was not necessarily right. He said the aim was to maximise public transport usage around the clock, particularly outside the main peaks where there was plenty of spare capacity.

Mr Dow also called for better off-peak incentives. Opposition public transport spokeswoman Tracy Davis said she detected public dissatisfaction with the current ticketing options. “From my perspective I would certainly look at ways to explore options that would afford value for money for commuters,” she said. Ms Davis said she was developing opposition policy on the issue and would take commuter views on board. People were angry about the removal of saver tickets such as monthly passes, she said.

“What people are saying to me is that they want periodical [options].” The debate over fares comes ahead of a planned boycott of rail services on March 17 by a group of frustrated commuters complaining about the loss of periodical saver tickets. The current Go Card system requires a user to take 10 journeys in a week before providing a 50 per cent discount on further travel for that week. TransLink rolled out some new Go Card incentives as part of the 15 per cent fare hikes in January, but a daily fare cap is only available to some concession holders. Seniors and pensioners must only pay for the first two journeys they take in any one day, with any other travel being free.

Mr Strachan yesterday defended the existing system, saying he believed frequency and reliability of services were the most important issues for commuters. He said customers would continue to have influence over future ticketing products, but the fare structure “must continue to deliver a program of more frequent and reliable services”. Loading More than 1300 readers voted yesterday in a brisbanetimes.com.au poll about the southeast's public transport fares. Just one in 10 respondents thought the existing fares and incentives struck the right balance, while the rest believed prices were too high. Ms Palaszczuk would not put a timeframe on potential fare structure improvements, saying the government's current focus was on the post-disaster reconstruction effort.