Bristol fares are very good value
AS FIRST'S biggest competitor on commercial services (i.e. not financially supported by any source other than fares) in Bristol, I have followed Daniel Farr's campaign about the high prices of fares with interest.
His campaign has actually reached the trade press and an article in Bus and Coach Professional last week had actually posed the questions "Are First fares in Bristol high?"
They took the example of the First Day ticket which gives unlimited travel all day in Bristol zones 1 and 2 costing £4.
This compared to £4.50 in Glasgow and Manchester, £4.60 in Leeds, £4.80 in Aberdeen and £5 in Sheffield.
Business Cards From Only £10.95 Delivered www.myprint-247.co.uk
View detailsOur heavyweight cards have FREE UV silk coating, FREE next day delivery & VAT included. Choose from 1000's of pre-designed templates or upload your own artwork. Orders dispatched within 24hrs.
Terms: Visit our site for more products: Business Cards, Compliment Slips, Letterheads, Leaflets, Postcards, Posters & much more. All items are free next day delivery. www.myprint-247.co.uk
Contact: 01858 468192
Valid until: Wednesday, May 22 2013
In actual fact there are only two places where First Day tickets are cheaper than in Bristol . Neither of which are comparable areas to Bristol.
In actual fact, on some of my services in Bristol more than 70 per cent of passengers travel for a single fare payment of under 91p. This is the amount that Bristol City Council have imposed on all operators (including First) as the amount they will pay for the transport of concessionary card holders.
During the mayoral elections a number of candidates suggested that all passengers in Bristol should pay £1.50 per journey.
Perhaps people would be better campaigning that bus companies should receive a fairer reimbursement for this free travel rather than forcing the bus companies to charge more to subsidise this free travel.
If 70 per cent are paying 60p below this figure then the 30 per cent of passengers who are paying must make up this shortfall meaning by definition that the mayoral candidates felt that a single fare of £2.70 was appropriate for the area.
From this it would appear that the First £4 day ticket is indeed extremely good value, being £1.40 cheaper than the return fare advocated by the mayoral candidates.
Even better value for passengers in the area is the new £4.50 Bristol Rider ticket available on almost all bus services in the area, no matter who the operator is.
Alan Peters
Managing Director Abus Limited
4 Comments
by bristol_12345
Friday, February 22 2013, 6:37PM
“Why would you want to use a bus that has a big sign up saying and forgive me as I am paraphrasing... 'our drivers carry swab kits' because of people spitting at the drivers... nice.
Lower the prices and bring back conductors to throw the chavs off and you might see more people using public transport. Go to the mainland and people of all classes use well functioning systems. Here? Our subsidies fuel their profits and in return we get the bare minimum that they legally have to provide.”
by bristol_12345
Friday, February 22 2013, 6:37PM
“Why would you want to use a bus that has a big sign up saying and forgive me as I am paraphrasing... 'our drivers carry swab kits' because of people spitting at the drivers... nice.
Lower the prices and bring back conductors to throw the chavs off and you might see more people using public transport. Go to the mainland and people of all classes use well functioning systems. Here? Our subsidies fuel their profits and in return we get the bare minimum that they legally have to provide.”
by SteveVirgin
Friday, February 22 2013, 6:01PM
“Bus companies are heavily subsidized by the citizens of Bristol as we dig up roads and introduce Priority Bus Lanes. These lanes are to make the buses run faster. They are, therefore, able to run more of them. As they need revenue to run a business service - allowing them to run more buses increases the level of service to the community. It also increases revenue and costs I accept. The consequence of priority bus lanes is huge traffic blockages at key points of the city, causing congestion, pollution etc. It also hit Bristol GDP hard as everyone takes an extra 20-30-40 mins to get to work each morning and that productivity is lost revenue to the city's coffers. So my question to Mr Peters is why is he not taking advantage of this 'free heavily subsidized clear run and getting more buses on the road?' If he were to do this he'd have more revenue. Bristolians would not be seeing cuts in bus services and price hikes they'd be seeing fast, free flowing buses that were so regular that there would be no need to take a car to the centre of town. Secondly, dropping the prices actually encourages MORE people on to the buses. At 45p a mile (HMRC taxable expenses rate) my journey to somewhere like the Watershed is actually far cheaper by car than it is by his over-priced buses.”
by FADINGING
Friday, February 22 2013, 9:12AM
“If the mayor brings this £1.50 flat fare lots of passengers will be worse off as for example the fares that are £1.80 or £2.30 return will be £3 return
why dont Daniel Farr' buy a weekly or monthly ticket instead of paying £6 a day as he said on local radio he would save £14 a week.. At least bristol buses give change or change tickets as many areas like Swindon Cardiff and the Midlands dont give change believe that is how they finance cheaper fares with no child fare in the evening charge a £1 for pets”