GST on public transport - who is providing the greater service?

An open letter to Treasurer Wayne Swan:

It's come to my attention that travel on public transport is subject to GST. Despite the fact that in our household of 3 licenced drivers we have 4 cars, I make a conscious decision each day to leave my car at home and catch the bus to work. I don't live very close to public transport - it takes me 15 minutes to walk to the nearest bus stop, and the bus only comes every 30 minutes and is often full to capacity or standing room only. Because the bus needs to frequenty stop to pick up passengers and is forced to share the road with the rest of the traffic for much of the door-to-door journey takes me about an hour by bus, but would probably take me 30 minutes if I were to drive myself (unless all the other passengers had the same idea). When the bus is too full, which happens all too often in Sydney, I have to wait 30 minutes for the next bus service to arrive - and hope that there's more space on it. Due to it's popularity, the route which I take must collect around $500,000 in fare revenue each year - but for reasons beyond my understanding, many of the buses they dispatch are literally over 30 years old and have no airconditioning. No special consideration is given to us at peak hour on hot Summer days when the temperature aproaches or exceeds 40 degrees and there are 80 hot, sweaty bodies pressed shoulder to shoulder.

Every day I join thousands of other commuters Australia wide, taking on the challenge of public transport - not because it's easy, but because it's the right thing to do. If we were to all stop catching public transport and all attempted to drive to work in our own cars the country would grind to a halt - or atleast be slowed down to the point where everyone got to work (and back home again) about half an hour later. By making our daily commute by bus we're providing a service to the wider community. This service includes:

- reduction in traffic congestion, allowing everyone else to get to their destination earlier
- reduction in pollution so that you can breath easy.
- less wear and tear on public roads, reduced need for wider motorways.
- significantly reduced risk of traffic accidents - leading to lower impact on the emergency services budget
- decrease chance that we will at some stage require the government to fund medical care due to heart condition
- being more sociable citizens

Compare this to my daily experience on public transport:

- 30 year old buses (only very occassionally will I see a car 30 years or older on my way to work)
- no airconditioning - even on extremely hot days
- overcrowded buses, often forced to leave commuters standing at bus stop, waiting for the next bus
- every 30 minutes during peak hour, hourly otherwise
- often running late
- Sydney trains often bypass scheduled stations if they're running late

And the alternative:

- Join the rest of the single-occupancy vehicles clogging up the roads and spewing out all sorts of pollution

With all this in mind, could you please explain why it is that travel on public transport is subject to GST? If the passengers are providing more of a service than the department/ministry of transport, shouldn't they be entitled to a public service tax credit - or at the very least, exemption from GST in reward for their troubles?

Public transport in Sydney should not be regarded as a "value added" service - it's a down right disgrace, and to charge GST on top of the price of the ticket is a slap in the face to those who are trying to do the right thing by the environment, society and even the economy.