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

[Hotchilidog]

I ordered a Key card last Tues, it arrived on Thurs, and able to use it on Friday after having loaded it online straight after ordering it. I'm not 100% sure how instantaneous top ups are.

There is a City Centre fare of £2 within a certain radius of the Clock Tower but it isn't very far.

The key card is excellent value and is way cheaper than the on board prices. If you use the bus regularly there is really no excuse for not having one.

However the one thing I find annoying about it is that it only offers day savers and not single journeys, as quite often I will only want to get the bus back from town after walking in or vice versa.

 

[albion534]

Been up to see the missus up in Manchester uni, and the buses were every 3 minutes, and like £3.90 for a day rider

They were pretty good

 

[Triggaaar]

One journey but cheaper than the £2.20 quoted in the OP.

20p off is a very poor discount.

I've been looking on their website, but the prices aren't all clear. I'm trying to work out the prices for 'the key'. So a 1 day ticket with the key is £3.50. Crap.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

20p off is a very poor discount.

I've been looking on their website, but the prices aren't all clear. I'm trying to work out the prices for 'the key'. So a 1 day ticket with the key is £3.50. Crap.

£3.50 is cheapish for a day saver but I suppose it depends how many journeys you need to take.

 

[zeetha]

Whats the definition of a short hop? When raining/I'm being lazy have occasionally taken bus to work and been charged £2 for centrefare even though only going 3 stops (London Road to the end of the Steine).

 

[Brovion]

Whats the definition of a short hop? When raining/I'm being lazy have occasionally taken bus to work and been charged £2 for centrefare even though only going 3 stops (London Road to the end of the Steine).

I don't know the exact definition but they are exactly what they say - short hops. I know from the Open Market the 'short hop' only gets me as far a Rugby Road. To get to Fiveways I have to override and run the risk of a fine.

 

[Brovion]

As you say, it's cheaper for 3 of us to order a taxi to our door, and drive us to exactly where we want to go in town, than it is for us to go to a bus stop and get on a bus that was making the journey anyway. How can that be seen as good value?

Not forgetting that the bus ticket is the price per person. If you're a family of four adults that's nearly £18 for return fares. Needless to say as a family we don't travel by bus.

 

[Wilko]

I think the issue is that 10 years ago in Brighton it was a £1 to go anywhere so £1-£2.20 in 10 years is a fair old leap!.

 

[Triggaaar]

£3.50 is cheapish for a day saver but I suppose it depends how many journeys you need to take.

If you were traveling about a lot it would be fine, but do many people do that? I suspect a lot of people just want to go into town (maybe 2 miles), to later return home.

Not forgetting that the bus ticket is the price per person. If you're a family of four adults that's nearly £18 for return fares. Needless to say as a family we don't travel by bus.

Indeed. It's the disproportionate cost that I think ruins it for me. If you're coming into town from Shoreham, then going to the marina for the afternoon, back to town for the evening and then home, that's excellent value for £3.50. But it costs me the same to go 2 miles into town and back, which I think is too expensive.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

The key card is excellent value and is way cheaper than the on board prices. If you use the bus regularly there is really no excuse for not having one.

However the one thing I find annoying about it is that it only offers day savers and not single journeys, as quite often I will only want to get the bus back from town after walking in or vice versa.

That's just ridiculous !!!!! So the key is of no use to people that only want to take single journeys ? If the technology for the key is there then that can't be the reason for the bizarre state of affairs - that only leaves Roger French greed. I don't use the bus very often but when I do it's often to go out in the evening when I'm very likely to catch a cab back after the buses have finished so the key is useless.

 

[cloud]

I live in London and pay £1.60 when using my Oyster or for £5 (with travelcard) I can get a day ticket.

It's actually only £1.35 for a bus ticket here in London, and free for Under 16s

 

[Biscuit]

It's actually only £1.35 for a bus ticket here in London, and free for Under 16s

What ticket is that? NEVER seen that advertised?!

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

£4.40 to get from Hollingbury to Churchill square. Ok its all day saver but even so. seems even the buses are out to rape me like the trains.

 

[cloud]

What ticket is that? NEVER seen that advertised?!

It's the standard Oyster pay-as-you-go bus fare

 

[Brovion]

Indeed. It's the disproportionate cost that I think ruins it for me. If you're coming into town from Shoreham, then going to the marina for the afternoon, back to town for the evening and then home, that's excellent value for £3.50. But it costs me the same to go 2 miles into town and back, which I think is too expensive.

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.

 

[Fitzcarraldo]

What ticket is that? NEVER seen that advertised?!

I may be wrong... but doesn't it say the cost of the ticket right next to the Oyster scanner? £1.35 Oyster fare, £2.30 cash fare.

 

[NickBHAFC18]

Been up to see the missus up in Manchester uni, and the buses were every 3 minutes, and like £3.90 for a day rider

They were pretty good

This. Was up there this weekend too. £1.50 to get to the City Centre, took about 30 minutes. Didn't wait for a bus for no longer than 5 minutes. To be fair, Manchester has the largest bus system in Europe... apparently.

 

[daveinprague]

Seems expensive to me...but flat fares never seem to work in the favour of the majority.
Just to rub it in, I pay 19 quid a month for bus, tram and metro throughout the city... ;-)

 

[trueblue]

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.

 

[trueblue]

That's just ridiculous !!!!! So the key is of no use to people that only want to take single journeys ? If the technology for the key is there then that can't be the reason for the bizarre state of affairs - that only leaves Roger French greed. I don't use the bus very often but when I do it's often to go out in the evening when I'm very likely to catch a cab back after the buses have finished so the key is useless.

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.