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Training with fools...
 Here
we go again. Guess what Victorians, you have been especially
chosen to pay out more money to bail out private companies
who can't run their businesses properly.
Yup, on top of massive insurance hikes to cover the HIH collapse,
increasing private health cover costs and an Ansett levy,
Victorians now will be handing over $105 million to get the
public transport companies out of the deep crap they have
got themselves into.
Now, as I have said before, this gives me the screaming runs.
A private company is there to make money - no problems about
that - but if they can't make a go of it then that's too bad
for them.
These guys entered into the business of running trams and
trains with their eyes open and - unless they are complete
droobs - did it willingly, thinking they'd make healthy profits.
But no, all of a sudden they aren't making money and go cap
in hand to the government - which has already been excessively
generous in paying these guys bonuses for doing extraordinary
things like having trains running on time - bleating about
how hard done by they are.
How many times are the public going to have to fork out their
tax dollars to bail out wankers like this?
It's about time these guys got off their arses and thought
about things in a different way.
If people aren't using the system because of faulty ticketing
systems, or hassles, or expense then go lateral. Instead of
raising the price of fares all the time - encourage more bums
on seats by reducing the price of tickets. Sure it would cost
a little to start with, but the advantages would be not long
in coming.
And, for those of us who only use public transport when it's
absolutely impossible to travel on anything else - why else
would you risk your life and interrogations from the ticket
nazis? - we wouldn't have to fork out squillions of dollars
that could be spent on hospitals or schools.
If there is something that has really got up your nose,
let Grumpy Old Coot know at grumpy@webwombat.com
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