Australasian Bus & Coach Magazine Reports on Fuel Price Impact on the Transport Sector

30 September 2005

Hitwise, the leading online competitive intelligence service, reports an increase of 18 percent in the number of visits to public transport websites in September 2005 compared to the same time last year. These include private operator and government websites that offer timetable and route information for bus, rail and ferry services.

Transport Infoline ( www.131500.com.au ) was the most visited website in this category, increasing its traffic by 13.9 percent between August 20 and September 17, 2005. Transport Infoline provides updates on service changes and an online travel planner for combined transport modes, for example a bus and train trip.

Price conscious surfers visited FuelWatch ( www.fuelwatch.wa.gov.au ) and Motor Mouth (www.motormouth.com.au ) to compare the best fuel price by area. Motor Mouth also offers daily fuel price email alerts. FuelWatch and Motor Mouth ranked 8th and 18th respectively in the Hitwise Travel ? Transport category, for the week ending September 17, 2005.

Search Terms on ?petrol' have increased substantially, with growth of 502 percent between July 2 and September 17, 2005. Similarly, ?fuel' searches increased by 55 percent over the same time period.

Visits to Business and Finance ? Property websites have interestingly risen by 8 percent between August 20 and September 17, suggesting that users are hunting for properties closer to central business districts and with easy access to public transport, especially as fuel prices could rise further.

Top 20 searches for Travel ? Transport included ?Transperth', ?Cityrail', ?Metlink', ?Connex' and ?Queensland transport', for the 12 week period ending September 17, 2005.

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