Bus prices!

Dave_C_2

Kite2010 wrote: »

You might be paying a bit for the OAPs who uses their free bus passes.

Nope, the bus companies are paid by the local council so that us over 60's can use the bus pass. The council is given a grant by central government.

On my bus ticket it says "OAP fare" or some such words, but no mention of the fare cost. How this relates to the how much the bus company claims back from the council is anybody's guess, but you can bet that this will mean that the bus company will not be out of pocket.

I live in a rural area and have been on many journeys outside of rush hour when the vast majority of passengers are using their passes. If we weren't using the buses then more daytime bus services would be cut.

Dave

Steel_2

I live in a village 2.5 miles away from Northampton city centre.

It costs me £5.80 return bus fare to town or £8.30 one way for a taxi. The price of the latter includes a £2.40 'village supplement' which is essentially a penalty for me living in the country and the taxi having to come out 'so far'.

Pound

Individual ticket prices are very expensive. But I've found bus passed are actually quite good value. In my area a monthly pass bough online from Arriva is £40 and that covers all of the Midlands. So if it I used it twice every weekday it would only cost me 90p per journey. If I happened to work 20 miles away that would only cost me 4.5p per mile, a lot cheaper than a car even without considering tax, maintenance, etc.

flashnazia

Sharon87 wrote: »

....

London bus prices are ok, £1.30 for any single journey with a price cap of about £4.

I am sooo jealous of London's transport system. The Oyster card is great too. I wish they would spend some money for decent transport for those who don't live in London.

lufcgirl

My buses are ridiculous too, I live in a village halfway between Durham and Sunderland. If you go to Sunderland it's £3.90 return (or £4.20 for a day ticket) or if you go to Durham it's £5.50 return (or a day ticket is also £5.50!). I'm convinced they think if you travel to Durham you're obviously richer or something!

So thankful I have my driving test in a few weeks and will never have to pay their ridiculous fares again.

mysk_girl

Don't get me started! £4.50 return to nearest town which is about 5 miles. But to Oxford, which is 16 miles, it's £5.50 return. Don't get it... (it's the same bus, you just stay on longer to get to Oxford. Obviously.)

TheTruthMachine

royzor wrote: »

They now charge school children adult prices unless they have a pass. They have to pay £5 for it. If she wants to go to town she has to pay £3.80 there & £3.80 return. I have downloaded the form but she hasn't had her photo done so I can send it off. There prices are the same on school days too. She is 13yrs old. Its ridiculous.

Well get her a pass then?

It will stop being ridiculous

hugheskevi

I went to Bath a few months back.

Took a bus into town from where I was staying - driver helpfully said I should get an all-day ticket rather than a return as it was the same price. I could have driven, but the car would just have stayed in a car park all day, and I could have a drink if using the bus.

Headed back at 8pm, to be told my all day ticket wasn't valid - apparently there are two bus companies operating the same route (although both use the same number route, and despite research routes and times on-line beforehand there was no mention of this) and the ticket is only valid for the other company's buses, but they stop running buses at 6pm (so a great "all-day" ticket!)

Even worse, the price of a single ticket was now double as it is on night rates.

For myself and my partner that was well over £10 in total for something like a 3 mile return journey - it would have been much cheaper to drive into town and use an all-day car park.

That was the last time I use a bus outside of London - sticking to the car from now on regardless.

pendulum

Public transport should be government run and around 50p return or £1 for a days unlimited use. See how many people leave their cars at home and use public transport then! You could basically halt every planned road building or enlargement scheme going by slashing congestion overnight, and the EU emissions targets would be exceeded with ease. If they genuinely wanted us on public transport, they'd do something like that, but they're happy to raise the cost of motoring whilst offering no reasonable alternative, just so they can rake in the money.

Doom_and_Gloom

Bus prices are high.
Cheapest return ticket - £2.80
Cheapest day ticket - £4.50
Cheapest weekly - £17.50
Cheapest 4 weekly - £55
Cheapest yearly - £600

The problem is the zoning. My OH has a 4 weekly at the moment and it doesn't cover the other zone we go into :wall:. That means we end up paying out another £2.80 at least when he does or we do :mad:. However as it is he doesn't go into the other zone enough to warrent getting the zone ticket that does both, if he did we would get that instead - just annoying that we pay out so much and it doesn't even cover everything.