ONE of the chief architects responsible for improving public transport in southeast Queensland - Luke Franzmann - has quit.
TransLink general manager Luke Franzmann has been behind the integration of commuter services while overseeing major projects such as the region's troublesome public transport "smart card".
Commuters are still being incorrectly charged as glitches plague the Go Card, the technology rolled out earlier this year after numerous missed deadlines since it was announced in 1999.
His resignation comes ahead of more transport bureaucracy changes in July when the new TransLink Transit Authority replaces TransLink as the authority overseeing buses, ferries and trains.
Mr Franzmann yesterday said he was leaving because now was the right time to move on, despite being "in the box seat" for the chief executive role of the new authority.
He finishes on May 30.
"It's been a great role and a job I have enjoyed very much," he said.
"From the increase in patronage, to the Go Card to the Inner Northern Busway, I have done what I set out to do."
Mr Franzmann has enjoyed a high profile as a top public transport mandarin, although not all the media he has received has been positive.
The Courier-Mail revealed last year that he enjoyed a taxpayer-funded CBD parking space despite his home being only 50m from a bus stop.
Transport Minister John Mickel declined to comment on Mr Franzmann's resignation.
Opposition transport spokesman Tim Nicholls said the timing was strange given the major changes happening in public transport.
"It appears he has been made the fall guy for the failures of TransLink and this is a clearing of the decks before the new authority comes in," Mr Nicholls said.
Mr Franzmann denied he had been pushed, saying he had overseen some "great things" in his six years at TransLink.
"It depends on your definition of lots of problems," he said.
"We have had a million trips on the Go Card. A million trips is a lot and no doubt the problems we have had will continue to improve."
This article was in the Courier Mail this morning.
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23687116-3102,00.html
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