- Transperth annual patronage surpasses 161 million for 2025-26 financial year
- Passenger survey reveals 95 per cent of train users satisfied with travel experience
- More than 470,000 Surf CAT boardings since service launched in November, with more than 99 per cent of passengers happy with the service
- Cook Labor Government committed to putting WA first and making public transport more affordable and accessible through its Go Anywhere Fare
Transperth has recorded its highest annual patronage on record, with more than 161 million boardings across trains, buses and ferries in the 2025-26 financial year.
A total of 161.2 million boardings were recorded during the 2025-26 financial year, an 8.4 per cent increase on the previous year’s figure of 148.7 million.
It also beat the previous record set in 2012-13 of 149.6 million boardings.
Patronage figures also include 471,888 Surf CAT boardings since the service commenced in November.
Train use was at a record-high with 73.7 million boardings, an increase of 19 per cent from last financial year.
Buses remain the most popular mode of public transport, with another strong year of 86.5 million boardings, a slight increase from last year’s record of 85.9 million boardings.
Transperth ferries also performed strongly with 932,673 boardings.
To provide a more accurate picture of public transport use, additional data capturing methods were used this year to capture non-ticketed bus boardings, particularly by students not tagging on and off when utilising the free student travel scheme.
The strong passenger numbers are in line with high satisfaction rates among Western Australian public transport users.
Almost 5,000 passengers were surveyed in Transperth’s annual Passenger Satisfaction Monitor (PSM), an independent survey of regular public transport users that covers all elements of their travel experience.
Now in its 37th year, the PSM is the most comprehensive and longest-running benchmarking survey of its kind in Australia.
Satisfaction levels across all modes remains high, with nine out of 10 respondents expressing their satisfaction with Transperth services, including 98 per cent of ferry users and CAT bus users.
Surf CAT passengers are the most satisfied with 99 per cent happy with the new service.
Satisfaction levels among bus passengers across the entire network are also up, reaching 91 per cent.
Train passengers continue to remain satisfied at 95 per cent, with Thornlie-Cockburn Line passengers the most satisfied at 97 per cent.
Passengers are also big fans of the Cook Labor Government’s Go Anywhere Fare, with 84 per cent of train passengers rating fares as good or excellent value for money, compared to 69 per cent last year.
When travelling with the Go Anywhere Fare passengers pay no more than $2.80 to travel anywhere on the network using a SmartRider with Autoload or $3.50 using contactless payments.
There has also been an increase in public transport passengers using more than one mode of transport, with more bus passengers also using rail as part of their journey (85 per cent compared to 79 per cent in 2025).
As stated by Transport and Major Infrastructure Minister Rita Saffioti:
“The Cook Labor Government has not only delivered the largest-ever expansion of WA’s public transport network through METRONET but has made catching public transport cheaper and easier than ever.
“We’re delivering real cost-of-living support to WA families with our Go Anywhere Fare, free weekday travel for students and free Sunday travel initiatives.
“It’s fantastic to see more people choosing to make public transport a part of their everyday lives, with a record 161 million passenger journeys taken across our network over the last financial year.
“We also know satisfaction among our passengers continues to grow and that passengers view travelling on public transport as great value for money.
“Only WA Labor will continue to deliver a strong public transport system for Western Australia, and support households by keeping travel accessible and affordable.”
