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Re-regulation of public transport.

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AlbertBertieBond
AlbertBertieBond Male
23 days ago
Andy Burnham, who I believe would have made a good Labour leader, is implementing changes to regulate buses in Greater Manchester districts. Capping fares must make a lot of sense.
BOYDEL
BOYDEL Male
23 days ago
How do they charge at present - by the distance - or a flat fare?

Capping any charging structure can be a 2 edged sword - UK capped Private Rents for 75 years from 1915 to 1990 - but that led to a 90% drop in available rentals.
the-omniscient-beeman
the-omniscient-beeman Male
23 days ago
TFGM are actually bringing some services back into public ownership due to lack of drivers. (Before you start arguing I live in the zone.)
the-omniscient-beeman
the-omniscient-beeman Male
23 days ago
There are a number of mechanisms currently in place for using the transport network. ie single fare, return, tfgm daily, weekly, monthly. Bus only. System One... bus, metro and local trains. Private company own prices. They are usually discounted but can only be available on their company services. There's currently a lot of public anger due to the poor services and the companies are not being penalised. The only good service is the Metrolink network. Andy Burnham has little choice really but to step in and shake the tree.
the-omniscient-beeman
the-omniscient-beeman Male
23 days ago
I live on a hospital (primary) route but a so called less than 10 minute service often ends up as an hourly service because Rosso (Transdev) claim they are short of drivers.
BOYDEL
BOYDEL Male
23 days ago
I note that Andy Burnham is suggesting that the £135 million cost will "practically pay for itself"

"Passenger numbers have plummeted since buses were deregulated in the 1980s and Andy Burnham blames the drop in numbers on chaotic services and expensive fares.

He said the price cap of £2 for adults and £1 for a child will practically pay for itself as more people will be tempted to catch a bus."

It will be interesting to learn about the mechanisms via which taxpayers will be charged - maybe via an addition to Council Tax bills?
BOYDEL
BOYDEL Male
23 days ago
If there is truly a driver shortage - that suggests that the pay is too low for the typical 3 revolving shifts.

Down south almost every bus has a constant advert for bus drivers on the rear.
the-omniscient-beeman
the-omniscient-beeman Male
23 days ago
https://tfgm.com/our-buses
the-omniscient-beeman
the-omniscient-beeman Male
23 days ago
They are starting to bring it in line with how the is London network run. In GM the price is £4 in London it's £1.55
BOYDEL
BOYDEL Male
23 days ago
Thanks for the link - but it is very light on funding practicalities.

Whilst obvs the existing carriers are making some profit - the halving of fares suggests that the current profit is a 100% mark up on operating costs....
the-omniscient-beeman
the-omniscient-beeman Male
23 days ago
They need to follow the excellent Metrolink model which just works. That incidentally is powered by totally renewable energy. The system went into chaos when maggie deregulated it. There's so many different ticketing options it is totally confusing and financially expensive to run. Somebody needs to step in, make clearer and streamline it. The buses run empty because the current system just isn't working and the companies aren't made accountable. They get away with murder and don't provide a consistent service to the point that people stop bothering to use it. It's currently not reliable enough or fit for purpose. I for one doesn't use it for that reason and I know of many others who would use it if it was more reliable. It needs a good shake up and more reasonably priced fares. Reliability is more likely to fill the buses and make a higher net profit on the bee network. If you live in areas like TFL you have not conception on what needs to be done.
Andromeda
Andromeda Female
23 days ago
Andy Burnham has been saying about the capping of fares and local government running the buses for years now. I think it is an excellent idea which other authorities should follow.
FBF_Peace
FBF_Peace Male
23 days ago
He said the price cap of £2 for adults and £1 for a child will practically pay for itself as more people will be tempted to catch a bus.

If more travellers use the bus service then maybe it will go a long way to paying for itself over time.
the-omniscient-beeman
the-omniscient-beeman Male
23 days ago
There needs to be a cost/benefit. Currently buses run empty because they are too expensive and unreliable. In many cases it's cheaper to get a taxi. There has to be an incentive to fill the buses and at the end of the day whether there's one or twenty on a bus it still costs the same to run the bus.
BOYDEL
BOYDEL Male
23 days ago
I know that in the TfL area - the Oyster card caps weekly fares at around £20 ish - whilst pensioners will have their Freedom Pass to use on both bus/train.

Nevertheless - outside the rush hours the buses do run largely empty - with a 15 min service up to something like 7.00 pm then 20 mins and tailing off to 30 mins after 8.00 or 9.00 pm
the-omniscient-beeman
the-omniscient-beeman Male
23 days ago
Most people who use the buses are pensioners and that's only because they have the national ENTS card.
the-omniscient-beeman
the-omniscient-beeman Male
23 days ago
Double that and that's what we have to pay up here...
BOYDEL
BOYDEL Male
23 days ago
On average in the UK today there is an average of more than one car per household - a massive increase from say 1960 when around 80% of households did not own a car and were thus forced to walk/cycle/ride on bus/train.
the-omniscient-beeman
the-omniscient-beeman Male
23 days ago
BoyDel, you are proving what I've been saying all along you have absolutely no comprehension of how much we are paying up here compared to London prices and Londoners are always whining about it being expensive down there.
BOYDEL
BOYDEL Male
23 days ago
OK so how much is your monthly Rent?
the-omniscient-beeman
the-omniscient-beeman Male
23 days ago
I have friends in London who have got rid of their cars because it's cheaper and reliable to use the transport. We don't have that up here. Until they shake it up and make it more cost effective people won't even consider using their cars less.
the-omniscient-beeman
the-omniscient-beeman Male
23 days ago
Pray tell me what has rent got to do with public transport :-/
the-omniscient-beeman
the-omniscient-beeman Male
23 days ago
According to rentmap a one bedroom in Manchester is £2175pm, in London it's £1300. I'm lucky enough to be a homeowner.
BOYDEL
BOYDEL Male
23 days ago
You made an arbitrary assumption that nobody below Watford Gap has a clue about living costs in various locations around UK

Housing costs are the single biggest cost for every household - sole exceptions being those with mortgage free homes and the circa 5 million claiming Housing Benefit.
the-omniscient-beeman
the-omniscient-beeman Male
23 days ago
According to rentmap a one bedroom in Manchester is £2175pm, in London it's £1300. I'm lucky enough to be a homeowner.

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