Bus Fares - how to find a fare?

uptomyeyeballs

It's been possible for a long time to find out the cost of a fare between places on trains. Why is it not possible to find out the fare between bus stops? I have several times been overcharged by drivers who have charge me a fare from the stop before the one I actually got on at.

There must already be a matrix of charges for each route (to plug into the ticket machines). Why can't we look up the correct fare, independent of the driver?

SailorSam

It's been a long time since i've been on a bus now but i thought all the bus companies tried to encourage passengers to pre-pay and get one of these tickets available at your local shop, like a scratch card to get a days travel.

uptomyeyeballs

These are semi-rural journeys up here in northern england. Regular bus travelers will have a season ticket, but i'm really asking for those who make occasional trips, not always between the same two stops. How do we know how much and whether it's in fact a correct fare?

dzug1

Bus companies are in general very reluctant to put fares on their website (assuming in the case of smaller companies they have one) and the few that do may only put an outline - major stops only.

Are you sure you've been overcharged? It could be the same fare from the stop before.

The basic reason is that it's a walk on service - bus companies do not sell advance tickets. Added to which it's an additional cost with large scope for error with no reward.

The driver is supposed to carry a fare table that you can ask to see - or that used to be the case. Don't know if the rules have changed though

uptomyeyeballs

dzug1 wrote: »

Bus companies are in general very reluctant to put fares on their website (assuming in the case of smaller companies they have one) and the few that do may only put an outline - major stops only.

Are you sure you've been overcharged? It could be the same fare from the stop before.

The basic reason is that it's a walk on service - bus companies do not sell advance tickets. Added to which it's an additional cost with large scope for error with no reward.

The driver is supposed to carry a fare table that you can ask to see - or that used to be the case. Don't know if the rules have changed though

The company that runs the service is Arriva, and there's no competition on the route. Yes, it's a different stop and a different fare (or it was, there's no indication that this has changed in any way, but .... i can't check). The last time I travelled, the ticket was issued with the previous stop's id as well, which I queried and the driver got very stroppy about it (that's why i'm asking). There's about 40p difference and it's only about 300 yards up the road.

Quentin

Write a letter to the bus company and keep the rrply to show the driver.

Though it might be the previous driver made the mistake!

uptomyeyeballs

It's happened more than once now Quentin, with different drivers. Some of them are not regulars on the route and don't actually know where they are, although I think some of the buses now have GPS to help, it can be over-ridden. I don't travel regularly enough now on the route to know how the fare has changed, but the ticket issued last time didn't represent the reality of the to/from stops, and last time I travelled regularly on the route (3 months ago) it was a lot cheaper than that. Unfortunately, we have to take the word of the driver, and I think it must be possible to find out independently of him what the correct fare should be.

surreysaver

Ask the relevant County Council - all bus routes are registered with them. If its a County Council supported route, then they should be able to provide the information.

Rosemary7391

I've emailed Arriva to get fare information in the past. They replied within a couple of days if I remember rightly. I don't understand why they can't put it online - after all, they have the information somewhere!