£2.20 - is that a lot of money for a bus journey?

[Herr Tubthumper]

By any measure or comparison Brighton buses are a rip off. And night buses have increased dramatically over the past 6 months. It used to be a £1 supplement on a Saver; I was asked to pay £3 last Saturday as the Saver is no longer valid.

Some competition would not go a miss.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

The fares are a joke. Brighton isn't London. It's so small that very few people need to hop on and off buses all day which, for people living close to town, is the only way possible to make the travel 'good value'. I use the bus in bad weather or to get to and from the station with luggage and £2.20 for a 4 stop journey is ridiculous. It costs about 20p more for a cab if there are 2 of us and if I was going out with friends, I wouldn't even consider the bus.

True. I live off Church Rd and in most cases a cab into the centre is comparable in price for me and my wife. We save money if there are 3 of us. Crazy.

 

[Hotchilidog]

Totally agree with this comment too. I very rarely need a bus in both directions and the fact that the card is only topped up 48 hours after you put credit on it makes the whole thing pretty pointless anyway for casual users. Of course, I could keep a big balance on there just in case but I don't see why I should be lending the bus company money when they're already ripping me off for single journeys.

I agree. I think the keycard is a positive step in the right direction, but it is nowhere near realising it's full potential. The fact that if there is more than one of you in your party a cab home is more competitive than the bus speaks volumes. Don't get me wrong, if you need the bus every day for work or heading into town on a regular basis the keycard is very good value, but for casual passengers it could be a great deal better.

 

[Garage_Doors]

For a single journey from one end of the city to the other, £2.20 is good value for money. Flat fares always cause an argument, though, which is why they offer reductions to £1.50 for some shorter one-way journeys. If you want a return journey, you buy a Saver ticket (on-line, or from a shop, if you've got any sense) or you use the new smartcard, the Key.

When you say "a shop" is this any newsagent type shop or do you have to go into town to get one, hence pay the max fare to travel in to get one?

 

[8ace]

When you say "a shop" is this any newsagent type shop or do you have to go into town to get one, hence pay the max fare to travel in to get one?

Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Company

 

[Garage_Doors]

Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Company

Thank you, i learnt something today,
Although if they don't work on single journeys not a not a lot of good.
Also the one most local to me changed ownership from the name shown some 2 -3 years ago, so not sure how reliable that list is

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Exactly. I said earlier in the thread that we used to go to Tunbridge Wells and back and it was only 40p more (per person) than going to Churchill Square and back! In recent years my wife and I have tried to combine a trip to Churchill Square with a trip to Lewes in the evening, then the price is positively cheap - but there's only so many times we can do that and there's a feeling of 'having to do it' so that we don't feel ripped off. For 'into town only' trips it's still far cheaper and more efficient to use the car.

How much do you pay to park the car?

 

[Brovion]

How much do you pay to park the car?

I don't. If the wife and/or kids wants to go into Brighton to shop or meet friends I drive them in, drop them off and drive home again. Then when they're ready they ring me up and I come and pick them up. The four trips (don't forget I'm only coming from Fiveways) cost about £1.60 in petrol. Admittedly I'm using my wife's ultra-efficient Ford KA, but you'd have to have a pretty thirsty car for the economics to work against you. The traffic doesn't worry me, it's just part of life and being stuck in a traffic jam is no worse than waiting for a bus.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

I don't. If the wife and/or kids wants to go into Brighton to shop or meet friends I drive them in, drop them off and drive home again. Then when they're ready they ring me up and I come and pick them up. The four trips (don't forget I'm only coming from Fiveways) cost about £1.60 in petrol. Admittedly I'm using my wife's ultra-efficient Ford KA, but you'd have to have a pretty thirsty car for the economics to work against you. The traffic doesn't worry me, it's just part of life and being stuck in a traffic jam is no worse than waiting for a bus.

In which case, you're talking about a free taxi service albeit the family one.

 

[Brovion]

In which case, you're talking about a free taxi service albeit the family one.

Well yes, I'd already said that as a family (or even as a couple) we don't use the bus as it's too expensive. I couldn't do it if I was on my own! So yes for a single person the bus would be cheaper than the petrol and the parking. The moral of the story is - get a girlfriend with a car!

EDIT: Or avoid Brighton and go to somewhere more welcoming.

 

[Colossal Squid]

Whilst the service is decent, fairly reliable and regular, it is NOT cheap by any stretch of the imagination.

On occasion I've had cause to journey from my home in Kemp Town all the way to Portslade, which takes about an hour. For £2.20 this is about reasonable. HOWEVER if I want to go to Asda at the Marina and back, taking a bus because of my heavy shopping, I'm expected to cough up £4.40 despite the fact that the journey is less than ten minutes. I'd never do this of course, because it's a complete rip off, and I don't actually need to catch a bus there BUT there will be many people who would need the bus for both legs of such a journey.

Furthermore this new smart card scheme is a bit of a joke, compared with the cheap and simple Oyster card in London. Instead of being able to simply add money to the card which the buses can then deduct based on your journey, calculating the cheapest possible fare automatically for you, they demand you buy a number of "Saver" tickets, which can take up to 2 days to load onto the card and can only be bought online. This is hardly convenient and what's more they have a fairly short lifespan. I actually bought the minimum number of saver tickets and loaded them to my card a couple of months ago, to try and save money. I've used two and the rest have expired. Therefore the journeys I took have ended up costing me MORE than if I'd have just paid the on the bus price each time.

I genuinely don't understand how they've managed to implement this new smartcard system so badly given the resounding success and approval rating of the Oyster. I only visit the big city on occasion but I've still managed to save considerably thanks to having an Oyster card which I occasionally top up with a fiver and travel around at my leisure without fear of being ripped off. The balance also lasts on there so I don't have to worry about expired tickets.

I don't think it's unfair to compare the B&H buses scheme to the Oyster card either. Why have they done it this way? Oysters just work. The KEY is a step backwards.

 

[clippedgull]

Whilst the service is decent, fairly reliable and regular, it is NOT cheap by any stretch of the imagination.

On occasion I've had cause to journey from my home in Kemp Town all the way to Portslade, which takes about an hour. For £2.20 this is about reasonable. HOWEVER if I want to go to Asda at the Marina and back, taking a bus because of my heavy shopping, I'm expected to cough up £4.40 despite the fact that the journey is less than ten minutes. I'd never do this of course, because it's a complete rip off, and I don't actually need to catch a bus there BUT there will be many people who would need the bus for both legs of such a journey.

Furthermore this new smart card scheme is a bit of a joke, compared with the cheap and simple Oyster card in London. Instead of being able to simply add money to the card which the buses can then deduct based on your journey, calculating the cheapest possible fare automatically for you, they demand you buy a number of "Saver" tickets, which can take up to 2 days to load onto the card and can only be bought online. This is hardly convenient and what's more they have a fairly short lifespan. I actually bought the minimum number of saver tickets and loaded them to my card a couple of months ago, to try and save money. I've used two and the rest have expired. Therefore the journeys I took have ended up costing me MORE than if I'd have just paid the on the bus price each time.

I genuinely don't understand how they've managed to implement this new smartcard system so badly given the resounding success and approval rating of the Oyster. I only visit the big city on occasion but I've still managed to save considerably thanks to having an Oyster card which I occasionally top up with a fiver and travel around at my leisure without fear of being ripped off. The balance also lasts on there so I don't have to worry about expired tickets.

I don't think it's unfair to compare the B&H buses scheme to the Oyster card either. Why have they done it this way? Oysters just work. The KEY is a step backwards.

Since April all my saver tickets have been loaded onto my card well within 24 hours.

Secondly, why have yours expired? I still have tickets loaded on there from April! All mine are one day tickets. Of course if you have bought weekly or monthly tickets then by logic they will expire if you have activated them.

 

[bobzam]

£3.30 for a single here in Bristol which is a rip off. A day ticket costs £4!!

 

[Colossal Squid]

Since April all my saver tickets have been loaded onto my card well within 24 hours.

Secondly, why have yours expired? I still have tickets loaded on there from April! All mine are one day tickets. Of course if you have bought weekly or monthly tickets then by logic they will expire if you have activated them.

They've expired due to having a lifespan of about 2 months. I logged into my account at the weekend to see this. Disappointing

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

for a journey of say, 40 minutes or so, then 2.20 is reasonable....but for me to get into town (about 10 minute journey) it clearly isn't so i simply don't do it

i guess that's the problem of a flat fare system, but my area is incredibly densely populated and i can't help but think they're missing out on a large amount of revenue

 

[Nibble]

Brighton will be a vastly different city in 10-15 years time. More people are moving out than moving in and living costs are rapidly surpassing London's. I for one have enjoyed my time here but will be moving on next year. too expensive, not enough done for residents and a shitty council in all areas. Brighton in it's present form has long since had it's day and will be unrecognisable in a few short years. It's sad but inevitable.

 

[clippedgull]

They've expired due to having a lifespan of about 2 months. I logged into my account at the weekend to see this. Disappointing

Just out of curiosity I just called the bus company and they said any purchased but not used will expire after 12 months.

Maybe worth a call to get yours reinstated?

 

[Guinness Boy]

Yesterday's transport costs for our family:

1) Nice day so took kids to the beach by Hove Lawns. 10 mins in car. Quid (ish) in petrol (car is diesel hatchback gets easy 60 MPG), £2 parking for an hour.
2) After lunch walk daughter to swimming in buggy while she dozes. Free.
3) After swimming go to bus stop. Wait 15 minutes. Pay £2.20 for a long, indirect trip home. Walk 10 minutes from bus stop to door. Cost £2.20 plus 25 minutes I'll never get back.

Per individual cost unit the bus trip was the most expensive and out of all it was easily the least convenient. Not value.

 

[mejonaNO12 aka riskit]

My month ticket went up £9 in one month to about £65.

The service is excellent but the percentage of price hike there was bonkers. That + the train price going up so rapidly is making me start to consider looking at a car for my trip to haywards heath each day which I would never have thought about previously. Kind of defeats the object really.

 

[Badger]

I blame OLD people for getting FREE bus travel.