Bus prices!

ptgiraffe

When my daughter decided she was not going to walk the 0.7miles from the canal boat we were staying on to the centre of Nantwich, we decided to take the bus. I asked for a return but was told they don't do returns only day tickets and that for an adult it was cheaper to take 2 singles, but for a child the day ticket was cheaper. Since all buses travel at 50mph in towns, the total journey time was all of 4 minutes and cost me £9.40 which is totally ludicrous. No wonder buses are the sole preserve of pensioners these days, nobody else can afford to use them and when they do they are forced to carry most of the costs. The government bleat on about how we should all reduce our reliance on cars, but what alternatives are there?

daveyjp

"what alternatives are there?"

For 0.7miles a reminder to your daughter of who is in charge and she can't decide what to do all the time, then you walk. If she refuses to walk make her pay.

whatmichaelsays

For me, the fares aren't the biggest cost. The reason I don't use buses is simply because it "costs" me so much of my free time.

Even in rush hour, I can drive the 7 miles or so from my home to Leeds City Centre in around 20-25 minutes (so an average of about 28mph). By bus, the journey takes the best part of an hour (so around 7mph). This is despite the bus having plenty going in its favour (2+ lanes, bus lanes, etc). That extra 40 minutes is obviously duplicated at the end of the day, adding 1hr and 20mins to my day. Times that by five, and we're talking approximately six and a half hours a week, or two working days per month - before you take into account delays/cancellations. Even if you base that time on national minimum wage (and I happen to place a much greater value on my free time than that), public transport is "costing" me the best part of £40 a week in lost time.

Give me a comfortable, direct (ie, not one that drives around every sink estate in West Leeds) and fast service and I'd use it. Until then, First Leeds can forget about having me as a customer.

mrshaz

my son goes to a school that takes 45 minutes each way to walk (yes it was my choice to send him to the school lol) so some days we'd like to catch the bus i.e when it rains or snows. however for a family day ticket of one adult + 2 children it is £6.70.

i was also hoping to send my eldest son for ice skating lessons in the half term but it would take 2 buses each way a weekly pass for me and the eldest will be £29, amost as much as the lessons!
to the bus companys credit they did half the family ticket to £3.35 in the summer holidays i'm hoping they'll do that in the half term but i wont hold my breath lol what i dont get is if they can afford £3.35 in the holidays why not the rest of the time lol

when i was at school from 8am to 9.30 am and 2.30pm to 4.30pm we could get a ticket for 15p, oh those were the days

daveyjp

[QUOTE

Give me a comfortable, direct (ie, not one that drives around every sink estate in West Leeds) and fast service and I'd use it. Until then, First Leeds can forget about having me as a customer.[/QUOTE]

Forget bus, try rail. New Pudsey or Bramley railway station to Leeds - free parking at both stations and it takes 10-15 minutes, it's cheaper than the bus too.

Mrs_Ryan

You Leics people who only pay 3-4 quid are lucky. On the bus route I live on (there's only 1, run by Arriva,every half hour or every hour after 6.30) its £2.80 ONE WAY into Leicester!! £5.20 for a Midlands day ticket. I work in the next town from my village and if I've been on an early shift it costs me 4 pounds bleeding 30 to get home - I cant buy a pass due to the unpredictability of my shifts. And thats only 5 miles down the road!!! :mad:

im-lost

I did think our prices were quite high in my neck of the woods, until I read this thread,
now they seem quite keenly priced compared to others.

Return to town is £2.80, £3.50 for a day ticket, £11.50 for a weekly ticket so a massive
saving for those that use it daily for work, school, college etc we don't have monthly or
yearly tickets

The daily and weekly tickets cover quite a large area, if you were to do a round trip about
50 odd miles in all, even though most don't, its mostly from the outlying villages in to Penzance.

For going a bit further afield we have the Devon / Cornwall rail card which gives 1/3 off rail fares
for up to 2 adults with up to 4 kids going for £1 for any journey within Devon and Cornwall for £10 a year,
for residents only in case any of you emits get any ideas, so going from Penzance to Truro its £3.85 return,
Plymouth its £6.25 return, Newquay £5.80 return and St Ives £2.45 return.

The transport links themselves are also quite good, most places have atleast 2 buses an hour, to
Truro, St Ives etc every 15 minutes, countless trains through Cornwall daily.

Saying all that I'm wondering why Ive grumbled about it in the past, it seems rather good.

muffins22

I live in a pretty empty town and don't drive so have to use public transport to the next town whenever I need to shop/go to interviews etc. I can't believe the cost of it. A bus journey into the nearest small town is either £3.60 each way or £7.20 return (a massive 0p saving), and there's only one bus an hour to my village so there's a lot of waiting around for the privelege. Yet a train into the closest city (20min train ride) is £6.20 return? Makes no sense to use the buses.

soothyerboots

ptgiraffe wrote: »

When my daughter decided she was not going to walk the 0.7miles from the canal boat we were staying on to the centre of Nantwich, we decided to take the bus. I asked for a return but was told they don't do returns only day tickets and that for an adult it was cheaper to take 2 singles, but for a child the day ticket was cheaper. Since all buses travel at 50mph in towns, the total journey time was all of 4 minutes and cost me £9.40 which is totally ludicrous. No wonder buses are the sole preserve of pensioners these days, nobody else can afford to use them and when they do they are forced to carry most of the costs. The government bleat on about how we should all reduce our reliance on cars, but what alternatives are there?

Alternatives? Tell your daughter to stop being such a lazy beast and walk the whole 0.7 miles!

crazyguy

My top tip for today,

Here is your solution against the increasing fares for using bus services,