THE NSW government says public transport patronage data previously available to the public will be updated shortly - despite a three-month lag in its availability.
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Transport for NSW has not published patronage data for all of the state's Opal-networked public transport services since April.
The data is usually released online each month and shows the amount of trips taken on trains, buses, trams and ferries.
Requests by the Newcastle Herald to Transport for NSW over the past two months for the data pertaining to the Newcastle Transport network have been met with a range of reasons why.
The agency released overall patronage numbers for May and June last month, but when a request was made in recent weeks for the July figures and information about travel types and destinations, it said the two months' figures were no longer valid.
Newcastle state MP Tim Crakanthorp questioned on Tuesday why the patronage data had not been updated.
"First the minister was fudging the numbers, now he's just hiding them all together," he said.
"The government keeps blowing its own horn about how good privatisation is. If the privatisation of Newcastle's public transport system has been the success that the government keeps lauding, then it would be in their best interests to release the data and show us the proof.
"What does the Minister have to hide?"
More than 250,000 trips were taken over 72 days on Newcastle light rail between its launch on February 18 to the end of April.
Data showed ferry patronage had increased on the back of light rail services commencing, highlighted by a 13.5 per cent rise in passengers in March from the year prior.
But further analysis of how light rail has influenced travel, including in relation to the region's buses, ferries or trains, has been hampered by the unavailability of data.
Inquires to Transport Minister Andrew Constance's office on Tuesday prompted the release of overall patronage numbers for the past three months on Newcastle buses, ferries and light rail.
However, a breakdown of the data - about travel types that show the amount of student or concession patronage, or light rail stops that proved most utilised - was not provided, nor was any data of the two train lines.
Transport for NSW said in a statement the "introduction of new services into the transport network has required changes to the way data is processed, which has added time to the release of patronage figures".
It said detailed May and June data would be updated later this week, with July to follow.
"Transport for NSW proactively publishes patronage data," the statement said.
"Transport for NSW expects to publish May and June data by the end of this week, with full financial year reporting estimated to be completed by the end of August. Following this, the regular monthly reporting will resume."