CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » General Edinburgh
"Edinburgh bus fares rise just days after services cut"
(31 posts)-
Posted 13 years ago #
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Even more incentive to cycle instead!
Posted 13 years ago # -
Going to go buy some singles this afternoon, beat the price hike :0. When did 10p in 3 years become a hike, thats less than compound inflation, I think.
Been meaning to get some for ages, a pack of 20 lasts me most of the year.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Maybe just me, but 10p on an already relatively cheap bus ticket is not a "dramatic" increase. Hootsmon trying to pull the usual fast one beloved of sloppy journalists of throwing in DRAMATIC PERCENTAGE HIKES based on a small increase in an already small number. CRIME DOUBLES (from one to two) etc.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Agree in principle on all above, but when you get ready to go out for a Saturday trip to the farmer's market and are faced with 2x£3.50 for adults and 1x£2 for a child aged 5 (even if still sitting on your lap!), it sure adds up fast, even if the baby still gets on free.
Posted 13 years ago # -
2 x £2.60 plus 1 x £1.40 surely? Still adds up though (and 60p more after the massive price hike'.
I like the sentiment of "Even more incentive to cycle instead!" but sadly think this will actually translate more into "Even more incentive to
cycledrive instead!"Posted 13 years ago # -
"2 x £2.60 plus 1 x £1.40 surely?"
Well, we also have to go Jack Brown's most weeks :)
Posted 13 years ago # -
As the saying goes, other bus operators are available. Alas they are also more expensive!
My last trip by bus was out to East Lothian just after new year to pick up the 'bucking bronco' folding bike. You can get to Tranent for a standard single fare on Lothian buses, but go just a bit further and the fare triples with Scottish Eastern, or whatever they call themselves these days...
Only other times I get on a bus these days are when going to the airport or similar longer distance with luggage/picking up folk, etc. A few occasions per year, maybe.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Actually, when you look at it like that it really isn't a cheap choice. Pretty certain I wouldn't use £9 of fuel to drive into town and home again.
I use buses so infrequently that I don't really notice the amounts, but daily users must really spend a lot of cash...
Posted 13 years ago # -
You might not use a tenner in petrol but parking in Castle Terrace is seriously expensive. It was the think end of £6 for an hour on Friday when Mrs. Steveo picked me up and we stopped for lunch before heading out to the ERI.
Posted 13 years ago # -
"When did 10p in 3 years become a hike, thats less than compound inflation, I think."
Looks like it went up from £1.20 to £1.30 around 11 months ago going by this thread:
http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=2580
And from reading that thread it looks like it was 2009 when the fares went up to £1.20 (from £1 I think?)
Posted 13 years ago # -
"
but sadly think this will actually translate more into "Even more incentive to cycle drive instead!"
"Perhaps.
There are plenty of people who don't have cars and no desire (for whatever reasons) to cycle.
It does highlight the complex relationship between running a (bus) business and transport (etc.) policies.
I think there would be a good case for case for charging more for particularly long journeys. Perhaps a zone system - approximately around the bypass.
I don't know whether Lothian Buses has decided that it would make a positive difference to revenue or whether it is considering wider transport/car use issues.
Wouldn't it be nice if ScotRail had one (low) fare for travel around Edinburgh (say 10miles)!
Posted 13 years ago # -
And from reading that thread it looks like it was 2009 when the fares went up to £1.20 (from £1 I think?)
Aye your quite right I forgot about that one. Seems to be a trend I wonder if it'll be a couple of years before we see 1.40 then 1.50 soon after that.
Posted 13 years ago # -
"You might not use a tenner in petrol but parking in Castle Terrace is seriously expensive. It was the think end of £6 for an hour on Friday when Mrs. Steveo picked me up and we stopped for lunch before heading out to the ERI."
Castle Terrace is absolutely extortionate. But I don't think, for many, this acts as a disincentive, because while I don't think I'd use that cost in fuel, most people wouldn't even factor that in - they'd just look at the cost of the parking in the 'car versus bus' cost.
Posted 13 years ago # -
""When did 10p in 3 years become a hike, thats less than compound inflation, I think."
Looks like it went up from £1.20 to £1.30 around 11 months ago going by this thread:""
Yes it did. I still haven't quite got used to the £1.30 fare yet.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Exchange rates. Even though UK has been in recession, inflation increases. Why? Oil (even North Sea oil brought ashore in Scotland) priced in dollars. In 2007, £1 was worth nearly $2, and €1.5. Pound falls against euro and dollar in 2008, prices of fuel and imported goods go up.
Anyone who went on holiday in Europe in 2007, then went back in 2008 will have noticed how much more expensive everything seemed to be all of a sudden!
This recent increase though seems to be more about the Scottish bus subsidy rules being changed to favour rural operators at the expense of urban ones.
Posted 13 years ago # -
"Bus grants plea to shelter passengers from fare rises"
Posted 13 years ago # -
Actually, when you look at it like that it really isn't a cheap choice. Pretty certain I wouldn't use £9 of fuel to drive into town and home again.
but you aren't paying just fuel
you have all your car costs+fuel
I have had been without car forabout 9 months
with bike/bus/foot in its place
I have to be honest. I have noticed the difference in my pocket even with my low costs
no car finance and old man NCDPosted 13 years ago # -
"Actually, when you look at it like that it really isn't a cheap choice. Pretty certain I wouldn't use £9 of fuel to drive into town and home again."
"but you aren't paying just fuel
you have all your car costs+fuel
I have had been without car forabout 9 months
with bike/bus/foot in its place
I have to be honest. I have noticed the difference in my pocket even with my low costs
no car finance and old man NCD"No, I know that, but I don't think Joe Bloggs who drives everywhere necessarily sees it that way.
Posted 13 years ago # -
A selection of stories showing on the Scotsman website today:
Taxis hit by Waverley ban over terror attack fears – 102 comments
The 10 bus lane hotspots to be cameras' focus – 101 comments
On-street cycle sheds aiming to boost bike use – 88 comments
Council chiefs rule out HGV ban when tram starts – 43 comments
Waverley's vehicle ban proposals go off the rails – 35 comments
Black marks for 130 city cabbies as passenger complaints soar – 29 comments
Not a hope in hell for on-time Borders Railway – 25 comments
Residents railing against late-night train racket – 24 comments
Edinburgh bus fares rise just days after services cut – 11 comments
Price of diesel hit record high of 143.05p – 3 commentsSo: people are very worked up about common sense, taxis, anti-car bus lanes and freeloading cyclists, but not very bothered about bus fares, catching trains, or the cost of fuel.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Bus fare to rise to £1.50
(Maybe)Posted 12 years ago # -
All the more reason to cycle instead...
Posted 12 years ago # -
The planned rise means the minimum fare charged by the council-run bus firm will have risen 150 per cent since 2002 – or a whopping three times the rate of inflation over the same period.
Was the single fare really 60p in 2002? Happy days!
According to the BoE, Inflation since 2002 is 30%, so it's actually a "whopping 5 times" is it not? (unless there's something fundamentally wrong in my maths). However I assume a lot of this cost increase comes from their fuel bill. Diesel was 76.3p / litre in 2013 and is currently 140p / litre, so has risen by 84% in that time (still below cost of ticket increase, but above that of inflation)
Posted 12 years ago # -
Honestly, you would think the bus operatiors were in the middle of negotiations with Transport Scotland over how much they will be paid for carrying elderly and disabled people and were trying to screw concessions out of the Government. Oh, wait...
Posted 12 years ago # -
Seems it was mostly chip wrapper based speculation...
http://lothianbuses.com/our-community/article/an-important-notice-to-all-our-passengers
Posted 12 years ago # -
If I'm honest, £1.50 doesn't seem all that bad for a single journey that provided you don't change buses can be as long as you need it to be.
I lived in the Newcastle, Northumberland area before moving up here and offer you a comparison.
Lothian buses: £1.40 single regardless of length of journey if you stay on the same bus.
Stagecoach in newcastle: Our single fares across the North East range from £1.10 to £3.10 depending on journey length.
Arriva Bus: Cost of a single varies depending on destination.
Do we really have that much to complain about? Lothian buses do a pretty good job.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Glasgow has far-more to moan about than Edinburgh when it comes to bus fares and the service.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Zenfrost, I used to think the fares were okay until I had kids. Now it costs us nearly £10 for daysavers for us all and that's with the toddler riding for free! Seems a lot for a shopping trip into town, so we bike instead.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Once you have three or more making the same journey (particularly adults) it might be worth considering a taxi on cost grounds.
Perhaps a multi-buy discount could be implemented?
Posted 12 years ago # -
@SRD, just think what it would cost if you lived in Newcastle! Only time I ever got a bus there it cost about £2 single for a journey equivelent of Corstorphine High st. to town and that would have been ten years ago.
Posted 12 years ago #
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