Central Western Daily, 17 July 2007
Why not have a PC with internet access (a touchscreen kiosk like at Darling Harbour in Sydney) at the train station or a mall or council library so people can book, pay for and print out their train tickets using the Internet? That way the elderly, or anyone else for that matter wanting to save a dollar, can get good prices for their train tickets using self-service instead of paying $15 or more to Sydney for a booking fee by going through expensive staff which they seem to want to reduce all the time to save money in Sydney?
If we get smarter, the State Government's higher prices can be overcome using Internet and PCs. I always book my train tickets online and print the ticket out as it is usually more convenient (24 x 7) and I can also be more flexible if I have to travel to Sydney in a rush. I also get a tax invoice for business emailed to me. The user can use Webmail to access their email and print it out.
Before someone says old people cannot use the Internet and that it is too hard to pick up, may be this price hike will force them to learn and lash out and give it a go. Necessity is the mother of invention. It may even get them away from being house-bound and meet other people and help them with their online banking and getting emails and cheap phone calls from out of town to keep them company. Orange is not that big and with the Internet it opens doors to other areas without the cost of travel.