Free Sunday travel on buses, trains, and ferries across WA is being made permanent, alongside the Ride to School Free Program that covers student travel to and from school each day. The Cook Government has committed $70.1 million in the upcoming 2026-27 State Budget to keep both running indefinitely.
Both programs were introduced in 2024 as cost-of-living measures with no firm end date promised. The decision to lock them in comes off the back of record-breaking patronage across the network.
What the changes cover
The Ride to School Free Program gives students free travel to and from school when they tag on and off with a valid SmartRider. Around 300,000 students currently hold a Student SmartRider. For a household with two children commuting to school daily, the government says the program saves up to $560.00 across the school year.
Free Sunday travel applies to every passenger on the network. More than eight million trips have been taken on Sundays since it began.
WA Seniors Card holders also continue to travel free during off-peak periods Monday to Friday, and at any time across the weekend.
March was the biggest month on record
“We know these practical initiatives are providing real relief to families, with a record number of people choosing to make use of our public transport network last month,” said Treasurer and Transport Minister Rita Saffioti.
Patronage figures released alongside the announcement show March hit an all-time high, with nearly 15.7 million boardings across train, bus, and ferry services. That beat the previous monthly record — set back in March 2012 — by almost 1.5 million trips, and came in 14% above March last year.
Regional services have also seen a jump. Transwa patronage was up 21% in March compared to the same month in 2025, with the Prospector service between Perth and Kalgoorlie up 22%.
The Go Anywhere Fare is doing most of the heavy lifting for daily commuters
For anyone travelling beyond Sundays and the school run, the Go Anywhere Fare introduced at the start of this year has done more to cut daily transport costs than the free-travel programs. Passengers can now travel anywhere on the network for $2.80 per trip with a SmartRider on Autoload, or $3.50 per trip when paying with a credit or debit card.
Premier Roger Cook commented, “After my government introduced the Go Anywhere Fare, making public transport more affordable than ever, record numbers of Western Australians are now using buses, trains and ferries to get around.”
The government estimates regular CBD commuters are saving around $625.00 a year under the new cap, on top of what they were already saving from the previous two-zone fare cap.
Transwa fares for regional train and coach services have also been permanently halved, covering travel to more than 200 destinations across regional WA. A return trip between Kalgoorlie and Perth on the Prospector is now $100.00 cheaper, and the Esperance-to-Perth return is down $107.00.
