Bus prices!

MackemPunk

I live about 10 miles from Sunderland, costs me £4.20 day ticket (works out quicker and cheaper as I can switch buses if needed, but mainly I cycle everywhere.

starsandmoon

It is cheaper for me to use my car and pay for parking than get a bus to Liverpool. I live 3 miles away. If there are 2 or more of us it is cheaper to use car and park in most expensive and very nice car park (Liverpool 1). This means door to door comfort, clean, safe car park with loos right by the shops. I used to always get the bus to town but not now.

The only time I found the bus cheaper was getting a North West all day ticket which cost £4.20 for an adult and £2.10 for a child and we went to Chester from Runcorn (took an hour but pleasant journey). Chester is a nightmare for congestion and parking. Later that evening we used the tickets to get the bus into Liverpool for a night out (ticket ran out at midnight, like Cinderella ) so well got our money worth there.

working

whatmichaelsays wrote: »

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.

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.

You hit the nail on the head there. I really don't understand why buses in West Yorkshire go around the houses (and estates) like they do. It's such a waste of time (and fuel). People should be expected to walk to the main arterial route. Do buses do this anywhere else? It's stupid.

wannabehermit

working wrote: »

You hit the nail on the head there. I really don't understand why buses in West Yorkshire go around the houses (and estates) like they do. It's such a waste of time (and fuel). People should be expected to walk to the main arterial route. Do buses do this anywhere else? It's stupid.

Yes they do down here. My mum will insist on getting a bus goes through all the estates and will take her up to a few hours with 2 or 3 changes when she could get a train that would take 10 minutes.

I had to get a bus back from the little town centre near me a couple of weeks ago. It's only a 20 minute walk but I had a mountain of shopping so had to get a bus. £1.50 for a single! The parking up there is free so if I'd had the car it would have been a few pence in diesel. The city centre would cost £3.80 return and about an hours journey for what would be 10-15 minutes in the car. The train is £3.50 so I use that. For £3.80 I could park the car for 4 hours and I'm never there for more than an hour or so. They're really encouraging people to use public transport aren't they!

We also found longer journeys are far cheaper in the car. We took ds1 up to London for the day last year. The train would have been £85 + tube ticket + £7 car parking for the 3 of us, the Greyhound wasn't much better at £65 + tube + approx £8 taxis. We decided to drive - £14 worth of diesel & £15 to park the car + tube ticket. Not only is it a lot cheaper, it wasn't any slower, you're not tied to the times of the train or coach, and there's no stress involved unlike public transport.

You won't be seeing me on a bus again anytime soon!