Student groups around south-east Queensland have raised concerns about recent State Government changes to student concessions on public transport. 

Minister for Transport and Main Roads Scott Emerson on Friday announced the introduction of the Tertiary Transport Concession Card (TTCC) from March 3. 

Student groups have taken to social media to voice concern about the changes, arguing the new requirements exclude some full-time students who should be allowed discounted travel. 

Under the new scheme, tertiary students will be required to apply for a TTCC in order to receive the 50 per cent fare discount. 

Students who are enrolled in a course with less than 12 contact hours are not eligible for the TTCC, even if their workload is classified as full-time by their educational institution. 

Mr Emerson says the scheme is being introduced to crack down on public transport users falsely claiming to be full-time university students in order to receive cheaper fares. 

"As a Government which promised at the election to improve and revitalise frontline services, we will not stand for people cheating the system and ripping off honest users," Mr Emerson said. 

"This form of fare evasion is costing taxpayers up to $8 million a year which is why we are introducing a state-wide Tertiary Transport Concession Card." 

New scheme 'unfair' for low-income students: student group

Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Guild president Courtney Mulder says the State Government's policy may make life harder for many cash-strapped university students. 

She says the main concern voiced by the student body is over the 12-hour coursework requirement. 

"There's a lot of ambiguity around what constitutes coursework, and whether [practical requirements are] part of that," Ms Mulder said. 

"What if my course is full-time as deemed by the university and Centrelink but it's not full-time according to this State Government policy? 

"PhD and research students don't actually have any official contact hours but they do a heap of work online and in the library. 

"This could mean that they wouldn't get to have this concession fare." 

University of Queensland postgraduate student Shashi van de Graaff says the change could deter students from using public transport. 

"It would definitely encourage me to not take public transport so much because it will end up being cheaper for me to drive to university even with parking costs," she said. 

Translink says there will be a five-month grace period before fines are issue to students not carrying a valid TTCC. 

Labor welcome changes; PUP questions need for 'more red tape'

Opposition transport spokesperson Jackie Trad welcomed the measures but says they will not stamp out rorting. 

"Nobody likes to see rorting of the fare system and I welcome ideas to reduce fare evasion, but the Minister Scott Emerson is turning a blind eye to the types of rorting that have been made even easier by the LNP," Ms Trad said. 

"The Newman Government has made the Go Card easier to rort when they lowered the weekly cap to nine trips." 

Key points: Under the previous arrangement, students were required to provide student ID upon purchase of a concession Go Card. 

Under the previous arrangement, students were required to provide student ID upon purchase of a concession Go Card.  The expiry date of the student ID was set as the expiry for the student Go Card. 

The expiry date of the student ID was set as the expiry for the student Go Card.  TTCC will be valid for a maximum 12 months. 

TTCC will be valid for a maximum 12 months.  To be eligible for TTCC students must be engaged in a full-time course at an approved university. 

To be eligible for TTCC students must be engaged in a full-time course at an approved university.  Interstate residents, part-time students, and those undertaking studies externally or online are not eligible. 

Interstate residents, part-time students, and those undertaking studies externally or online are not eligible.  Students will be required to re-apply at the beginning of each university year. 

Students will be required to re-apply at the beginning of each university year.  All TTCC applications must be approved by the student's educational institution. 

Palmer United Party MP for Gaven Alex Douglas has questioned the necessity of another card for student travellers. 

"I'm astounded that Campbell Newman’s LNP Government which boasts about removing red tape, is adding another layer of officialdom when the current system appears adequate," Mr Douglas said. 

"Rather than introducing another layer of red tape, the Minister should be looking at improving the bus services for people who have lost weekend services and have no way of getting home from work or school because buses finish running mid-afternoon." 

Public transport advocacy group RAIL Back on Track has supported the government in addressing fare evasion but suggest the TTCC is overly complex and restrictive. 

Students are now required to carry three cards whilst travelling: their Go Card, student identification, and the TTCC. 

Mr Emerson says the change brings south-east Queensland into line with arrangements in other states. 

Whilst both Victoria and New South Wales require students to apply for a travel concession card in order to travel at the discounted rate, neither state dictates the number of hours that classifies a course as full-time. 

Both states accept the classification determined by educational institutions. 

Universities to play key role in TTCC system

To apply for the TTCC, students must download an application form and have it authorised by their educational institution before lodging the paperwork to receive the card in the mail. 

Education institutions also have to be registered with the Department of Transport and Main Roads, and any institutions found to be non-compliant with the policy and eligibility requirements will not be registered. 

Ms Mulder says this places undue pressure on universities. 

"I wonder if some universities would have the facilities to cope with that, especially because you need to renew the card every 12 months," she said. 

"During orientation week, where there's already a huge demand with new students getting their student cards, this would just add a lot of pressure and cost a lot more money with the extra administration costs." 

The TTCC rules also exclude students who study externally or reside interstate from obtaining the concession.