Cost of using the bus!
Discussion
(inevitably people will turn up saying the bus is for tramps, so you can save it!)
I had to use the bus today as my car was in for a service. The main problem I have always had with the busses is the cost. A journey from the train station to my house was £1.80 for a 20minute journey.
Going back around 5 years ago I am sure this journey could have been done for around £1.
Now I know costs etc have risen over the past few years (fuel etc) but so much so that they have almost had to double their prices?
This is also on probably the most popular bus route in the entire city, it goes to both sides of the city and goes via town centre, another high street and the train station and major hospital - i.e they don't need high prices to subsidide running it.
I am pretty sure the council neighbouring us even subsidies some rural routes, AND the company bus makes huge profits.
Now I am a bit of a socialist (hmm) and I think the council should be responsible for providing a decent mode of public transport - even if it just comes down to being able to force the bus companies to set their prices.
Capitalism is all well and good if there is competition - but there isn't any in this city for all routes within the city. Infact I can only see prices rising due to the monopoly.
So, what can I do? I want to do something - or if all else fails start a bus company and roll in the dosh!
I had to use the bus today as my car was in for a service. The main problem I have always had with the busses is the cost. A journey from the train station to my house was £1.80 for a 20minute journey.
Going back around 5 years ago I am sure this journey could have been done for around £1.
Now I know costs etc have risen over the past few years (fuel etc) but so much so that they have almost had to double their prices?
This is also on probably the most popular bus route in the entire city, it goes to both sides of the city and goes via town centre, another high street and the train station and major hospital - i.e they don't need high prices to subsidide running it.
I am pretty sure the council neighbouring us even subsidies some rural routes, AND the company bus makes huge profits.
Now I am a bit of a socialist (hmm) and I think the council should be responsible for providing a decent mode of public transport - even if it just comes down to being able to force the bus companies to set their prices.
Capitalism is all well and good if there is competition - but there isn't any in this city for all routes within the city. Infact I can only see prices rising due to the monopoly.
So, what can I do? I want to do something - or if all else fails start a bus company and roll in the dosh!
king hate busses.Money to be made in busses, I am sure of it..
DrTre, my next trick is global warming
..
Now with all this pressure to reduce car useage surely the council will pipe up if someone mentions poor me not being able to use public transport due to the cost.
i might even write to my MP dammit.
DrTre, my next trick is global warming
..Now with all this pressure to reduce car useage surely the council will pipe up if someone mentions poor me not being able to use public transport due to the cost.
i might even write to my MP dammit.
Buses near me are ludicrously expensive and staggering in their uselessness; I remember once attempting to use one with a friend, only for the driver to announce that as it was the last bus of the day he was going to skip the last few stops and go back to the depot, would we mind getting off now?
(I feel I should point out this last bus of the day was at the staggeringly late time of - er - half past seven in the evening.)
The cost-per-mile here for bus travel is actually more than owning a reasonably nice car in most cases. It's a hell of a lot more than the cost-per-mile of a basic, road-legal-and-nowt-more snotter, taxed and TPFT insured, plus car park charges. That's assuming that you only ever travel alone, too.
I have worked this out, and it's because if I go by car, I drive myself, getting 30mpg or whatever.
If I go by bus, someone has to be paid to drive me around, in a vehicle that only gets about 6-8mpg, and go via some tortuous route that burns twice as much fuel as going there directly. There might be, at a stroke of luck, one other person on there, who will invariably be drunk, smell of wee, or possibly both.
Unless you get a free bus pass, you actually have to be quite rich to use the bus. So the target market is someone with lots of money... who doesn't have a car... and yet doesn't consider a trivial hop to the nearest shopping town taking nearly an hour to be the slightest problem.
So the entire non-pensioner target market for bus travel consists of people who are paid vast sums of money, but only if they're pointlessly wasting great gouts of their time doing things that make them miserable without even having some kind of "work" at the end to show for it. Which is basically nobody, really, isn't it?
(I feel I should point out this last bus of the day was at the staggeringly late time of - er - half past seven in the evening.)
The cost-per-mile here for bus travel is actually more than owning a reasonably nice car in most cases. It's a hell of a lot more than the cost-per-mile of a basic, road-legal-and-nowt-more snotter, taxed and TPFT insured, plus car park charges. That's assuming that you only ever travel alone, too.
I have worked this out, and it's because if I go by car, I drive myself, getting 30mpg or whatever.
If I go by bus, someone has to be paid to drive me around, in a vehicle that only gets about 6-8mpg, and go via some tortuous route that burns twice as much fuel as going there directly. There might be, at a stroke of luck, one other person on there, who will invariably be drunk, smell of wee, or possibly both.
Unless you get a free bus pass, you actually have to be quite rich to use the bus. So the target market is someone with lots of money... who doesn't have a car... and yet doesn't consider a trivial hop to the nearest shopping town taking nearly an hour to be the slightest problem.
So the entire non-pensioner target market for bus travel consists of people who are paid vast sums of money, but only if they're pointlessly wasting great gouts of their time doing things that make them miserable without even having some kind of "work" at the end to show for it. Which is basically nobody, really, isn't it?
Edited by Timberwolf on Wednesday 1st July 00:30
They are so expensive around here, and alot of hassle as well... for me to get to Kendal by bus (about 9 miles or so) involves 2 buses, nearly an hour of bus time (not including waiting) and over 6 quid. That's one way! For me to do the same in the car takes about 12 minutes and about 2-3 quid. Remind me again why I should be getting rid of my car?
Mojooo said:
Capitalism is all well and good if there is competition - but there isn't any in this city for all routes within the city. Infact I can only see prices rising due to the monopoly.
If it was a pure free market to provide public transport then there wouldn't be any. Therefore you cannot blame capitalism for the failure of public transport.Public transport in 95% of this country is not economically viable so either it is subsidize by the tax payer or private transport is taxed to make public transport more competitive. In reality both of these things happen.
I would actually blame the socialist mentality of high tax on private transport that mean't a private hire taxi is only viable for the wealthy.
Busses are a joke where I live. £2.40 one way into Leeds city centre so it would cost me £4.80 a day round trip to work and back when I can park for £3 in the car or free when I'm on my motorbike.
Last time I was on the bus they had the heating on and one window open, it was 24 degrees outside. I'd rather hitch hike.
Last time I was on the bus they had the heating on and one window open, it was 24 degrees outside. I'd rather hitch hike.
I'm a bit of a convert, I used to dispise the bus due to the time it takes ( it takes 25 mins to do a journey in the car i can do in 13 plus i have to leave the house 25 minutes earlier) BUT not having to deal with people with poor lane discipline on 3 major roundabouts and being able to relax and read a magazine or similar means i'm also happy to pay the sub of £4 return for a 6 mile journey (4.6 by car)
alock said:
Mojooo said:
Capitalism is all well and good if there is competition - but there isn't any in this city for all routes within the city. Infact I can only see prices rising due to the monopoly.
If it was a pure free market to provide public transport then there wouldn't be any. Therefore you cannot blame capitalism for the failure of public transport.Public transport in 95% of this country is not economically viable so either it is subsidize by the tax payer or private transport is taxed to make public transport more competitive. In reality both of these things happen.
I would actually blame the socialist mentality of high tax on private transport that mean't a private hire taxi is only viable for the wealthy.
The way I see it is they take the profit from the good routes and have the council hold up the not so good routes.
I'd rather see the council take control and run the thing at break even - which I am sure would mean much lower prices. The govt could also then introduce measures to make it cheaper for the LA's to run comapred to a private company.
Not sure I agree that 95% of public transport is not viable.
Concensus seems to be bus prices are a ridiculous rip off anyway, throughout most of the country.
My 4 year old had never been on a bus, so the Mrs and I took him on a return trip from my house to the nearby town (3 miles away).
£9.80
I could go 100 miles in the car for that.
What you have to remember is that public transport only makes sense if you aren't paying - the paying passengers are subsidising the OAPs
£9.80
I could go 100 miles in the car for that.
What you have to remember is that public transport only makes sense if you aren't paying - the paying passengers are subsidising the OAPs
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