Transport NSW could be considering permanent fare-free periods after a recent data report.

Business NSW has crunched the numbers, combining data from Mastercard and Opal from the 12 day period last year in April and it showed a 6% increase in spending across the CBD.

The report also found an 11% increase in public transport use. 

Ben Pike from Business NSW told Deborah Knight there is yet to be an official response from the government as to whether or not free fares could be in place.

“We’re yet to hear back… it could be on the cards.”

Transport NSW responded with the following statement:

For most major events across Sydney, public transport is already included in the form of integrated ticketing.

Currently we have integrated ticketing across all modes of public transport for a number of Sydney World Pride events which includes the Bondi Beach Party on Saturday 4 March, Rainbow Republic at the Domain and the Pride March across the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Sunday 5 March.

Our big message to anyone attending Sydney WorldPride events is public transport is the best way to get there and home again.

Public transport to the SCG precinct is already covered on match-days and for patrons to concerts with a valid ticket, club or stadium membership until 2025, on public transport servicing the Sydney metropolitan area.

Ticketholders simply need to show their event tickets to transport staff when boarding services.

We will continue to work with agencies such as Venues NSW, Destination NSW and others in supporting events in and around Sydney.