…The relatively small difference between Victoria, where public transport was free, and NSW – where fares remained unchanged – suggests price is not the main constraint on mode shift. Access, travel time, service reliability and the ability to make specific trips appear to matter more.
I think they were sarcastically paraphrasing the article.
Having read the article now I am mistaken and remain clueless about the comment.
I think it’s supposed to be a reference to this:
Might be time to finally watch this.
It still reads more like a response to the article, not to OP.