Destination’s just part of the journey

Almost 30 years ago, I spent several months backpacking through Indonesia on the first leg of a year-long trip to the UK, via South-East and North Asia and the recently collapsed Soviet Bloc.

I’ve mentioned that trip a few times in this column because I learned so much about the people and culture of our region, how different economic and political systems worked and, of course, faced a lot of potentially life-changing moments: some positive, some less so.

Travelling around Indonesia was not for the faint-hearted, but there were lessons there I still believe have application three decades later.

Like several other countries I visited in the region at that time, its people mainly relied on a network of ferries, buses, mini-buses for longer distance travel, and auto-rickshaws and three-wheel pedal-powered ‘becaks’ in towns and cities.

I assumed most were privately owned, but that was not always clear.

Publicly owned trains were generally very slow, so they had a different place in this system, but like here in Western Australia, long-distance bus depots and train stations often co-existed.

While it was ideal for a backpacker with less time pressure on departures and arrivals, it was also, at times, very dangerous.

Overcrowding, poor roads, top-heavy loads, a menagerie of animals, and theft were all part of the challenge and the risk.

One time, the roof of a mini-bus partially collapsed mid-journey due to the amount of baggage stacked above.

But the system worked, moving people around a vast and densely populated country as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible.

It was integrated in a way that had formed naturally as transport had evolved.

The contrast to WA could not have been more marked.

Safety was one clear distinction, but also the widespread ownership of private cars was the biggest contrast to Indonesia back then, with our public transport alternatives being the network of trains and buses, supplemented by taxis.

Now, apart from a few gestures to integration such as park-and-ride establishments at train stations and taxi ranks at airports, I feel our system remains as piecemeal as it was and, as a result, less efficient than it could be.

Given Perth’s unusual nature as a very isolated big urban centre, I have long wondered if we could experiment with a new way of doing business.

One advantage today that didn’t exist 30 years ago is the ubiquity of mobile phones that can track our location and carry applications with in-built payment systems.

Uber and other ride-sharing companies are the obvious example of that use.

And, like the Indonesian mini-buses I remember, they also allow for users to share the ride with others, which reduces the cost.

Transperth has yet to get on this journey.

It has smartcards that work well, and in some cases allow you to seamlessly use the card on a route that incudes both train and bus legs, but it is not mobile phone enabled and only works within the relatively rigid route network of public transport.

Uber has proved there is demand from people who require transport at a time and to locations not conveniently served by other options.

Why can’t we integrate this into our transport system?

Rather than waiting for a bus at a bus stop, why can’t I catch an Uber or taxibus from my doorstep, potentially with other commuters, to more centralised locations (bus stops or train stations) and maybe complete my journey with another Uber, all on the same app?

One payment shared across different providers, depending on where they took me, how long it took, and whether it was peak or off-peak.

It seems to me that this fits with the objectives of most governments.

It would reduce traffic on the road by making commuting without a private car easier, and it would streamline bus and rail routes, leaving short trips to and from hubs to the private sector.

There would be far fewer (often nearly empty) big buses cruising through the quiet streets of suburbia.

I am not so naïve to think the negotiation for this is easy, but I believe it would benefit our society in a way that is hard for public transport to do in a sprawled city such as Perth and even several regional centres.

I’d be along for the ride.