http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Topic: "Bus fares forced up by fewer passengers and lower grant" en Thu, 21 May 2026 15:46:16 +0000 http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5182#post-55289 Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:52:11 +0000 Nelly 55289@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>IMHO Lothian buses are great - dont often get them, but when I do I find them cheap and reliable - my sister lives in Bath, and although a lot smaller city the bus service timetable v reality verges on the eclectic - and its far pricier.</p> <p>Lothian bustracker app works a treat, and I imagine that they have already planned integrated ticketing with the trams - however there has been a slight implementation delay with part of that project..... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5182#post-55288 Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:44:00 +0000 crowriver 55288@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><em>Yep, an integrated Oyster/Octopus/ITSO card would be a boon. Not sure where the Scottish Government has got to with that.</em></p> <p>The same sort of zone as they're in with a network of electric car charging points, perhaps? That is, kicked into the far and distant future for someone else to sort out.</p> <p><em>they also had what we should have done for a tram<br /> it went in a big cirle round the city centre</em></p> <p>I think Edinburgh used to have something similar until the 1960s: they were called the suburban railways. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5182#post-55287 Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:31:13 +0000 Kirst 55287@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Day tickets are £3.20 </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5182#post-55284 Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:10:25 +0000 custard 55284@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>when I lived in Melbourne it was zonal<br /> covering train,tram and I think bus (its been a while) on one ticket<br /> they also had what we should have done for a tram<br /> it went in a big cirle round the city centre<br /> so you could hop on and off easily,for getting around </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5182#post-55283 Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:07:18 +0000 PS 55283@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Transfer tickets would be particularly useful for swaps from bus to tram to bus for when they reduce the number of buses going down Princes Street (har har).</p> <p>Yep, an integrated Oyster/Octopus/ITSO card would be a boon. Not sure where the Scottish Government has got to with that. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5182#post-55282 Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:03:58 +0000 chdot 55282@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>"They really need a snazzier ticketing system. An Oyster card style system could handle it all automagically."</p> <p>Yep. </p> <p>It does seem odd that LB haven't got round to it. </p> <p>They are certainly going to need some sort of transferability if they are going to persuade people to use the tram for part of their journeys. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5182#post-55281 Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:02:30 +0000 custard 55281@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>isnt that like the Londinium Oyster Card? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5182#post-55280 Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:56:17 +0000 kaputnik 55280@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@cb - simplest solution might be to allow pre-loading "credit" onto the existing ridacard, rather than having to pay for expensive monthly pass. You may only want to use it intensively for a week or a day. You buy card for priveledge for access to "fairer" fairs </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5182#post-55278 Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:49:23 +0000 DaveC 55278@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Don't they have a day ticket though? Used to be £2.50 when I took a bus last summer to Bruntsfeild, but its probably gone up now.</p> <p>As a comparison moving out to the sticks my 3 bed detached bungalow cost £170k, trains are £8.20 per day, ~£35 a week or ~£140 a month. Bus costs £7.70 a day or £24 for a 12 journey ticket (£2 each way). Or as I do, bike 4 - 5 days a week on a cycle to work bike costing a grand, rouchly ~£90 per month.</p> <p>So moving into Edinburgh our equivolent house would have been nearer £150k - 300k and month buss pass £48. I'm sure soneone will work out how long I'd have to take the bus to make it more profitable...</p> <p>back of an envelope works out at ~140 years, and thats not accounting for fare increases, or the actual cost of my repaying my mortgage!!!! </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5182#post-55277 Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:47:54 +0000 Wilmington's Cow 55277@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>The one-hour systems I've used the driver doesn't check the tickets, but they have <em>very</em> regular ticket inspectors come on. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5182#post-55274 Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:37:44 +0000 cb 55274@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I agree and think that a time limited ticket that let you hop buses would be the single best improvment to the service.</p> <p>The downside (for LB atleast) would be potential slower boarding as the driver would have to check ticket times and the potential for fair dodging on an old ticket.</p> <p>They really need a snazzier ticketing system. An Oyster card style system could handle it all automagically. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5182#post-55269 Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:27:10 +0000 kaputnik 55269@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@chdot - the "hour ticket" is a great idea, particularly if your journey requires changes because of the "all buses along Princes [George] Street" routing policy.</p> <p>Why does it cost 2 tickets to go from (say) Corstorphine to Morningside (you have to go into city centre, change then go back out) when it only costs 1 ticket to take the 26 from Corstorphine to the end of the route at Tranent or Seton Sands? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5182#post-55264 Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:23:17 +0000 chdot 55264@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>"<br /> Here's a radical thought, imagine they charged you for the distance you actually travelled on the bus? Maybe then for the average user, fares wouldn't need to go up?</p> <p>"</p> <p>Well it's certainly surprising that LB sticks with the 'flat fare' system. </p> <p>There was a time when there were Fare Stages with the lowest price for one stage - which might only take you to the next stop (depending where you got on).</p> <p>I would assume that LB has looked into the various benefits (and otherwise) of a multi-price fare system. London has Zones - there would be a certain logic to charging more for going outside the City limits. </p> <p>Certainly, as mentioned elsewhere, it would be better (for non day/season ticket holders) to have a fare/ticket that allowed people to change buses and go anywhere within an hour. </p> <p>If it's OK if you happen to live on the same bus route as your destination. But an 'hour ticket' - perhaps £1.50 - might get extra passengers(?) </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5182#post-55260 Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:07:55 +0000 Baldcyclist 55260@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>£48 a month seems very reasonable, if I get the train to work it costs £10.60 for one day. When I used to get a first bus from Livingston, oh about 15 - 20 years ago is was about £14 per week.</p> <p>Here's a radical thought, imagine they charged you for the distance you actually travelled on the bus? Maybe then for the average user, fares wouldn't need to go up? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5182#post-55242 Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:25:58 +0000 Dave 55242@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Of course, one great bit of news is that if the bus fare goes up by 7.7%, it will reduce the cost of all our bike stuff (as measured in Bus Months).</p> <p>In fact, every 14 bus months you previously had to justify now only requires the justification of 13 :) </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5182#post-55240 Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:19:30 +0000 Nelly 55240@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>£48 seems a lot, but I suppose if you use it more than twice a day per working day it pays for itself.</p> <p>I used to have a bus pass many years ago, and it was a similar deal then - i.e. you score very slightly using 2 buses per working day - but you must be quids in if you use it for socialising / shopping etc I guess?</p> <p>Mind you, you could get a Revolution town style bike for equivalent of ~5 months bus pass, and be fitter as well. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5182#post-55236 Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:01:35 +0000 Kirst 55236@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I am using the buses daily at the moment while my fracture heals. I feel that £48 for a 4 week Ridacard is quite a lot, but I know it's relatively cheap compared to elsewhere. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5182#post-55234 Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:55:44 +0000 kaputnik 55234@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I can't recall the last time I took a bus. I do remember it being a thoroughly unpleasant experience thumping along George Street </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5182#post-55232 Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:46:43 +0000 crowriver 55232@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>The real change is in the central government grant, minister responsible one Keith Brown.</p> <p>"Funding for the BSOG has been cut by 20 per cent and payments are no longer based on how much fuel buses use, but how many kilometres they travel, – a change favouring rural operators at the expense of those in urban areas, resulting in an overall cut of up to 40 per cent in the grant for some companies."</p> <p>Passengers could be lower because of tram works, but equally it could be the recession or folk switching to active travel. Certainly I personally have not been on a bus for months. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5182#post-55230 Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:41:07 +0000 Dave 55230@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>"payments are no longer based on how much fuel buses use, but how many kilometres they travel" </p> <p>Well, that makes obvious sense. Otherwise having a less efficient bus will make you more money!</p> <p>Vicious cycle though - passenger numbers are down so they're having to increase fares, but that will make the bus less attractive (we travel by bus a lot less than we used to when it cost a pound each way).</p> <p>That said, you'd expect the fare to rise by inflation each year, so £1.30 a year ago should now be ~$1.37 anyway - not much of a change. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5182#post-55229 Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:34:28 +0000 kaputnik 55229@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>So are the people who are not travelling on the bus due to tram works just not travelling? Or are they walking instead? Or are they in cars... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5182#post-55226 Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:27:16 +0000 chdot 55226@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>"</p> <p>BUS fares in Edinburgh are expected to rise next month following a massive cut in government grants and a drop in passenger numbers due to the tram works.</p> <p>"</p> <p><a href="http://www.scotsman.com/edinburgh-evening-news/transport/bus_fares_forced_up_by_fewer_passengers_and_lower_grant_1_2089549" rel="nofollow">http://www.scotsman.com/edinburgh-evening-news/transport/bus_fares_forced_up_by_fewer_passengers_and_lower_grant_1_2089549</a> </p>