Bus fares up 50% from today.

FriedGreenTomatoes2

Just think about that for a minute.

Fares now £3 instead of £2 for the workers going into into work this morning. Doesn’t sound much does it? But multiply that by a working week - two rides a day, five days a week and that’s a tenner. Multiply that by a month and that’s £40 coming out of perhaps fairly low paid wages (care workers, coffee shop staff) that they’ll have to find from this month that they didn’t last.

I think it’s shocking. It’s not as though its say 5% rise above inflation. What do you think of this?

Actually it is a £10 per week and not £40 per month, so slightly more than you are stating, as there are always more than exactly 4 weeks in the months except for February. Yes I am picking I know, but I like to be factual!

I don't think it is shocking I think people have had it exceptionally cheap for a long time and everyone knew it would not last forever. £3 per journey is still very cheap IMO, particularly as you can take out weekly or monthly ticket plans too. They have also had plenty of warning to budget for it and much cheaper than running a car.

Barbarasmum

59FriedGreenTomatoes2

True indeed JaneJudge and I’m totally with you.
I think it was just the huge 50% LEAP that shocked me!

But we're you (and others) shocked when fares were reduced to £2 per journey.
It seems to me that once something happens which benefits some members of a population, such as bus fare reductions and the Universal Credit uplift, those people rail against having that temporary help being taken away. They've become accustomed to it and resent it reverting to or partially reverting to the previous level.
I really don't understand this mindset.
It's a bit like offering a neighbour a lift which he/she then resents you for not offering if your plans change.
It's the ebb and flow of the economic tide. Sometimes you can see and enjoy the beach and sometimes you can't. Suck it up.

It is not even as much as a cup of coffee that much commuters buy daily.

many commuters sorry typo

Good point, Barbarasmum. I think similar apples in all the furore over the withdrawal of the universal Winter Fuel Payment.

For 2022 and 2023, WFP was boosted by a cost of living payment of £300 to £500 or £600 depending on age. It would have reverted to £200/£300 this year but people had got used to receiving the larger payment. I have lost the £200 WFP but my energy bill for 2024 was £220 lower than it was in 2023 (for similar consumption) so I am not worse off for the loss of it.

I do not live in a metropolis so bus fares here were high. Before I qualified for my old age bus pass, three years ago at 66, I was paying £4 for a single, one and a half mile bus journey into town, so the cap, even at £3 now, is welcome if I want to travel early in the day when the pass isn’t valid.

The county council here publishes the cost of public services in terms of cost per day. For 2024/25, the cost of paying bus operators for concessionary fares is £44,623 per day or £16.3 million per year. The sum is small compared to the cost of adult social care, schools and child services but is still a significant amount.

win

FriedGreenTomatoes2

Just think about that for a minute.

Fares now £3 instead of £2 for the workers going into into work this morning. Doesn’t sound much does it? But multiply that by a working week - two rides a day, five days a week and that’s a tenner. Multiply that by a month and that’s £40 coming out of perhaps fairly low paid wages (care workers, coffee shop staff) that they’ll have to find from this month that they didn’t last.

I think it’s shocking. It’s not as though its say 5% rise above inflation. What do you think of this?

Actually it is a £10 per week and not £40 per month, so slightly more than you are stating, as there are always more than exactly 4 weeks in the months except for February. Yes I am picking I know, but I like to be factual!

I don't think it is shocking I think people have had it exceptionally cheap for a long time and everyone knew it would not last forever. £3 per journey is still very cheap IMO, particularly as you can take out weekly or monthly ticket plans too. They have also had plenty of warning to budget for it and much cheaper than running a car.

I suppose up it's because it's quite a price hike all at once that has come as a shock. 50%.

The problem with transport in some areas away from big cities is that it is just not convenient, does not run at the times people need.
Yes, it would be cheaper than running a car, and those who live in large cities and towns are more able to take advantage of public transport (if it's running eg the trains!) but in smaller towns and rural areas it is practically impossible to go to many places without a car.

Trying to persuade people to leave their cars at home is going to require a major rethink.

Trying to persuade people to leave their cars at home is going to require a major rethink.

It is, but I think it's a rethink worth having. I don't know if we still have one, but there used to be a loneliness tsar, and I have no reason to suppose that loneliness has declined. There is certainly a problem with mental health, and loneliness can lead to depression and anxiety.

Freedom of movement is critical for employment - both so that people can get to work, and so that customers can get to businesses to buy goods and services. Without it, there are too many restrictions on what people can buy and use, which obviously impacts on the viability of businesses.

There is also the pollution issue, and IMO charging people to move around is an awful way to deal with it. It basically says that you can travel (and pollute) if you have money, but if not you have to stay put. So pollution is less important than money, which is ridiculous.

Also, the more cars on the road, the more congestion there is, so the harder it is to get around for those who need to. If we had better public transport (cheap/free, clean, regular, reliable and safe) people making non-essential journeys (eg shoppers) and commuters could free up the roads for those who need to be in a car rather than on a bus/train.

Yes Doodledog I always thought it ridiculous that I have to get a bus into the city then another in order to get to a suburb that is parallel to mine.

Many shops of a specialist type here have quit the city due to low foot fall and relocated to small but busy precincts. Often with free parking. So great for drivers as it takes about 5 minutes but by 2 buses at least an hour.

I have a bus stop right outside my door but it meanders through the whole estate before joining the main road to work, this means that even when this bus is on time it takes me an hour to reach my workplace which still includes a brisk 15 minute walk.
In a car even at peak hours ( I work anytime between 8am til 9pm) it would take no more than 15 minutes.
Imagine the distance that you could travel in that hour it takes me. Then same again on the way home.(if bus turns up)

Good point SueEH

And quite a few of us do not buy a coffee although Costa,Greg’s, and Subway are but one door away. It is free at work in our lounge/staff kitchen. Perks of the job?😊

Barbarasmum

59FriedGreenTomatoes2

True indeed JaneJudge and I’m totally with you.
I think it was just the huge 50% LEAP that shocked me!

But we're you (and others) shocked when fares were reduced to £2 per journey.
It seems to me that once something happens which benefits some members of a population, such as bus fare reductions and the Universal Credit uplift, those people rail against having that temporary help being taken away. They've become accustomed to it and resent it reverting to or partially reverting to the previous level.
I really don't understand this mindset.
It's a bit like offering a neighbour a lift which he/she then resents you for not offering if your plans change.
It's the ebb and flow of the economic tide. Sometimes you can see and enjoy the beach and sometimes you can't. Suck it up.

I agree, the reduction in fares was only a temporary measure and the info. Is out there in the public domain, for everyone to read. The real “shock” would have been to have scrapped the discount all together! Then there might have been a reason to object.

Why has this discussion caused to so much ill feeling? This used to be a site where people could voice opinions, ask for advice without this unpleasantness that nowadays increasingly follows. I understand that the written word often sounds harsher than intended but if people don't like the threads why not just ignore them instead of spoiling them for others?

Allira

DGC's bus fares (UK) cost £200 per month for 2 children to get to school and college before the price rise.
That's a big hole in a family budget.

I’m pretty sure schoolchildren get free bus travel here (outer SW London). Presumably that’s one reason why I regularly saw a very fat boy in senior school uniform stuffing his face with Mars Bars etc. while he waited for a bus to take him just two stops - a 15 minute walk, if that.

I’m well aware that free bus travel is a great help to many parents, though. Someone I know who lives near Exeter, told me that bus fares have recently risen from £2 to £3, so it now costs £12 for her DD, who is not well off, to take her SN young teen daughter shopping.

What ill feeling? Do you mean disagreement?

If it gets personal its better to walk on by - as we have already on this thread.

it seems to be that there are lots of schemes and the country to make bus travel cheaper, she for the whole community, and some for categories. Best thing is to learn from the best like Manchester?
Except I do understand that for rural communities there are really no easy answers

Hence the almost one billion that the new Goverment are putting into improving bus services. Repeating the link I posted before:

www.gov.uk/government/news/1-billion-government-funding-boost-for-bus-services-across-england-to-help-end-postcode-lottery

The investment has been designated to enhance popular routes, protect rural services and increase bus use for shopping, socialising and commuting. It will prevent service reductions on at-risk routes and improve punctuality across England, to bring an end to the current postcode lottery of unreliable services.

It's so frustrating when people castigate the government, but fail to mention the considerable efforts made to alleviate it.

Thank you for the reminder! Long way to go, as with many other needs to be met.

Witzend

Allira

DGC's bus fares (UK) cost £200 per month for 2 children to get to school and college before the price rise.
That's a big hole in a family budget.

I’m pretty sure schoolchildren get free bus travel here (outer SW London). Presumably that’s one reason why I regularly saw a very fat boy in senior school uniform stuffing his face with Mars Bars etc. while he waited for a bus to take him just two stops - a 15 minute walk, if that.

I’m well aware that free bus travel is a great help to many parents, though. Someone I know who lives near Exeter, told me that bus fares have recently risen from £2 to £3, so it now costs £12 for her DD, who is not well off, to take her SN young teen daughter shopping.

It's a complicated area. The nearest school or one with a 6th form may not be in the catchment area.
At one time they kept changing catchment areas here and I had children at 3 different schools. They still keep changing the boundaries.

Ilovecheese

What ill feeling? Do you mean disagreement?

I'm happy for disagreement, that's to be expected it's the way this is sometimes expressed by a minority of posters.

I rarely dig deeper than any headline - why is that FGT?
If I'm drawn to a headline I do usually read the whole piece.

I do realise that we are all different - but obviously headlines never tell the whole story (and sometimes are factually way off the mark!

Maybe this is one reason why threads can occasionally get "a bit spikey".