Media Release | 18 May 2026
Hon Steve Martin MLC
Shadow Minister for Transport; Ports; Communities
Less than a month after the Cook Labor Government celebrated making free public transport for school students “permanent”, new figures released in Parliament reveal the scheme has generated more than $821,000 in fines.
Parliamentary figures show 8,214 fines, at $100 each, have been issued to students under the Ride to School Free Program – a more than six-fold increase from the 1,350 fines issued in June 2024, which generated $135,000 in revenue.
On 19 April, Premier Roger Cook and Transport Minister Rita Saffioti announced the program would become permanent as part of what they described as “major cost-of-living relief”.
Shadow Transport Minister Steve Martin said the figures exposed a growing divide between the Cook Labor Government’s cost-of-living rhetoric and the reality facing West Australian families.
“The Premier and the Transport Minister have spent weeks congratulating themselves for offering ‘free’ public transport, while more than 8,000 fines have been handed to school students under the same program,” he said.
“For families already struggling with rising fuel prices in a cost-of-living crisis, the last thing they need is a $100 fine.”
Mr Martin said the figures raised serious questions about how the scheme was operating in practice.
“In June 2024, there were 1,350 fines issued to students under the Ride to School Free Program. Less than two years later, that figure has blown out to 8,214,” he said.
“Rita Saffioti has presided over a 25 per cent convenience tax on tap-and-go, a 30 per cent hike in regional airfares, and now an explosion in fines on the very schoolkids her ‘free’ scheme was meant to help.
“The Minister cannot keep claiming free student travel is driving patronage growth while also reviewing how students who fail to tag on are counted. She is trying to have it both ways.”
Mr Martin said the Transport Minister needed to explain what safeguards were in place to ensure students were not unfairly penalised under the program.
“The Cook Labor Government promised free transport for students. But families are finding out there’s nothing free about a $100 fine,” he said.
