The Masked Tulip Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Just paid £3.20 for a 2.4 mile journey in Swansea. That, to me, seems very excessive. I think I was one of the few people paying for my ticket as the rest were mainly pensioners. Normally would have walked but it just started a torrential downpour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPin Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Why didn't you ride there naked on a motorbike, as I would have? Rain only hurts wimps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Masked Tulip Posted September 14, 2015 Author Share Posted September 14, 2015 Why didn't you ride there naked on a motorbike, as I would have? Rain only hurts wimps. Police have asked me to stop doing that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StainlessSteelCat Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Cheaper up North, TMT. About £2.50 for return journey of total of 8 miles around here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Masked Tulip Posted September 14, 2015 Author Share Posted September 14, 2015 A friend just told me that he pays £4 for a 2.5 mile journey in Swansea. I am just trying to compare this to mileage paid out by public sector bodies or private companies to workers. Seems excessive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkie Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Expensive of course.......2.4 miles is if fit, quite easy to walk or cycle. I used a bus £6 return ~40 mile round trip all of the passengers had passes, the bus driver didn't have any change and was surprised someone was actually paying the fare, so had to run into shop to change a ten pound note. I do not begrudge the pensioners a free bus pass.......gets them out and about spending in the economy, keeps them sane as many of them can't or no longer can drive due to health issues and it keeps them off the roads, safer for the rest of us. Also many bus services would shut down completely if not used......I doubt many of the pensioners living on a state pension who use the buses could pay the high cost of the fares on a regular basis, don't use it you lose it....many of the richer ones who can't drive get cabs to pick and drop them off where they want to be.....wouldn't see them using the bus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Masked Tulip Posted September 14, 2015 Author Share Posted September 14, 2015 I am not having a go at the pensioners..... just felt that I was paying for the entire bus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkie Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 I am not having a go at the pensioners..... just felt that I was paying for the entire bus. Lucky you still have a bus....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goat Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Just paid £3.20 for a 2.4 mile journey in Swansea. That, to me, seems very excessive. I think I was one of the few people paying for my ticket as the rest were mainly pensioners. I think it may be calculated based on the number of stops on the route rather than distance, so 2.4 miles in the town centre might cost the same as 6 miles in the middle of nowhere. I have to agree that on the rare occasions I use the bus I seem to be the only person actually paying to use it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiveinHope Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Just paid £3.20 for a 2.4 mile journey in Swansea. That, to me, seems very excessive. I think I was one of the few people paying for my ticket as the rest were mainly pensioners. Normally would have walked but it just started a torrential downpour. Better be quick for this one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riedquat Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 When I looked at using public transport to get to work the bus worked out very expensive, nearly half as much as the train for a fraction of the journey (so the odd time I've used it I've walked that part, about 2 miles). If I was going to use the bus regularly though the cost would've been much less, getting a weekly ticket was far better value if you used it every day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Knimbies who say No Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 It is normal, and expensive. Similar/shorter journey was three quid+ in Chester. It's the sort of cost (per mile!) that you could run a supercar for on an ongoing basis. You'd have to drive it yourself though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccc Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Edinburgh is £1.50 for anywhere in the city - apart from the night/airport express bus. So yes - thats comparitively pretty expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgul Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 I have to agree that on the rare occasions I use the bus I seem to be the only person actually paying to use it. Not true. We're all paying for the pensioners to use it. As they 'pay' no matter how expensive it is, the operators might as well bump the prices up to 'outrageous'. I guess the operators as good capitalists know there are two options - 1) cut the price down to the bone to encourage use. The buses will be full and they'll have a good income. There will be wear on the system, etc. 2) pump the prices up to whatever the regulator will allow. This will discourage use except from the customers who don't directly see the cost. This makes for a nice quiet bus, which in return encourages the pensioners. The pensioners pay top whack, so they'll have good income. The wear on the bus will be lower. I think the bus company has decided on 2). [Not just Swansea - same around here (wherever that is...).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happy_renting Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 I am not having a go at the pensioners..... just felt that I was paying for the entire bus. A RouteMaster in decent condition can cost £30K. The only bus I fantasise about buying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spyguy Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 I am not having a go at the pensioners..... just felt that I was paying for the entire bus. I would. There 'Vote for Gordon' perk has upset my local buses. These days, distance and use seems to have no reflection on the price of bus tickets. It cost the same for the return on a 5 mile journey as it does for a ticket to sit on the bus all day, going everywhere within a ~80 radius. The price of an all-you-eat monthly ticket where I live is good value - providing the buses stop * * - due to the living on the Yorkshire coast, out buses are full to the brim of a bunch of free-loading, joy riding OAPs. Any OAP that can sit on a bus for for a ~7 hour roundtrip from Leeds to Whitby can p1ssing well pay the full price of a ticket. The local, low-income bus users either have to stand (if they are lucky) or walk (if the bus is full). The chatter on the bus is 'Well, we left the car at xxxx because its much more convenient to use the bus and not pay for parking' The late bus services that used to be subbed by the council have been cancelled to buy for the OAPs free buses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AThirdWay Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Had my first trip on the Edinburgh trams a few weeks ago. £1.50 for about an 8 mile trip. Excellent all round, I must say. For almost £800 million, you would hope so! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goat Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Not true. We're all paying for the pensioners to use it. As they 'pay' no matter how expensive it is, the operators might as well bump the prices up to 'outrageous'. I guess the operators as good capitalists know there are two options - 1) cut the price down to the bone to encourage use. The buses will be full and they'll have a good income. There will be wear on the system, etc. 2) pump the prices up to whatever the regulator will allow. This will discourage use except from the customers who don't directly see the cost. This makes for a nice quiet bus, which in return encourages the pensioners. The pensioners pay top whack, so they'll have good income. The wear on the bus will be lower. I think the bus company has decided on 2). Instinctively I thought this must be wrong but after a quick Google it seems it is not. Apart from London, bus fares are not regulated so the operators can charge what they like, the companies are paid a percentage of the full adult fare (60%?) for each journey so for many routes there is an obvious incentive to keep the full adult fare as high as possible at the cost of pricing off the paying customers. I also get the impression that services are ending earlier in the evening than they used to, because the OAPs don't use them and the paying passengers wont. Not surprisingly this state of affairs was put in place by the one and only Gormless Brown. Madness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goat Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Edinburgh is £1.50 for anywhere in the city - apart from the night/airport express bus. So yes - thats comparitively pretty expensive. I wonder if Edinburgh has an unusually low proportion of free bus users, Wiki does say that a high proportion of the population is young adults. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattW Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 First Bus Eastern Counties (or 'Worst Bus' as it is nicknamed) - around Norwich I pay £4.30 for a return ticket. They call it a '2 trip ticket'. On saturday I paid £4.80 for an 'All day ticket'. Use the bus as many times as you wish. Much better value for money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spyguy Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Had my first trip on the Edinburgh trams a few weeks ago. £1.50 for about an 8 mile trip. Excellent all round, I must say. For almost £800 million, you would hope so! Did you get 'executive relief' from Kate Upton during your journey? I'd exect nothing less for 800m. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEATH Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Sounds expensive. Nottingham is £2 a single ticket, £3.50 unlimited all day. £2 a day unlimited if you buy a 7 day (£14) pass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPin Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 A RouteMaster in decent condition can cost £30K. The only bus I fantasise about buying. Would you get a "Green Line" one with closing doors and the long wheelbase"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgul Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 First Bus Eastern Counties (or 'Worst Bus' as it is nicknamed) - around Norwich I pay £4.30 for a return ticket. They call it a '2 trip ticket'. On saturday I paid £4.80 for an 'All day ticket'. Use the bus as many times as you wish. Much better value for money. Not if you only want to make the return journey. so - people who just make a return journey (apart from pensioners) = perhaps people getting to/from work? Maybe shopping? 'Essentials' provided by the bus service. Good. This is what the bus service is about. Just who are these people who are hopping on and off the bus? - because the people getting just the return ticket are subsidising them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccc Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 I wonder if Edinburgh has an unusually low proportion of free bus users, Wiki does say that a high proportion of the population is young adults. Seems a lot of grannies to me !! It's a very good service so maybe just well used by the masses ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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