Amex Travel Vouchers

[C17BHA]

Mid Sussex Seagulls Supporters Club - A Viable Option

We have recently established the Mid Sussex Seagulls Supporters Club with a view to providing cheap travel to the Amex next season.

We will be running coaches from Haywards Heath which will stop at Burgess Hill and Hassocks on the way down ( may start at Pease Pottage if enough demand ) and the return fare will be £5.

Anyone who is interested in joining should look at our website Home - Mid Sussex Seagulls for further information.

This will be a very good and cheap way to go to the Amex and generate a good atmosphere with fans who will be attending for every home game.

Regards from Mike Costello ( C17BHA ), Chairman, MId Sussex Seagulls Supporters Club.

 

[Titanic]

not tied down on leaving times but want to return straight after match have to work on prices as long £6 to £8 as long as you r local to me that would be door to door

We are in Billi nr the Weald School, so I guess from WisG you would be coming pretty much past us on you way along the A272.

What are you planning on for parking? Can you get into the coach park as a minibus??

 

[Ned]

Those coach prices are ridiculous. A 'season ticket' from Newhaven £95 -£4.13 a match? The train fare is £3.30 for a cheap day return or a return on the bus is £3.70. We can also suit ourselves when we arrive or leave.

 

[Uter]

No mention of concessions. The price of a season ticket for a child under 10 in Zone A is £98.75. In the family stand its £49. Coming from Hastings the cost of coach travel would be £205. Over 4 times as much.

 

[Bold Seagull]

To be fair to the club, the ST sales etc. have been hard to predict and clearly a much larger volume have been sold than they expected. They may not have expected to plan for 22k per game, and if they did, many of those would be match ticket purchasers rather than ST holders needing a regular travel plan. Once they have a firm number of ST holders and what should be a regular attendance at each home game, I'm sure the deals with their providers whether coach, rail, bus or P&R can be negotiated on a firmer basis. You would think this is perhaps the reason they have held back on announcing the final schemes.

 

[Hotchilidog]

To be honest I cannot understand the uproar, when I buy I ticket to a football game I do not expect the club to transport me to the game itself as well, I can normally figure out how to do this myself. For many years at withdean I walked to the ground with an unused travel voucher in my pocket which I still had to pay for. I think it's perfectly fair that the vouchers are no longer a compulsory purchase and are now discretionary for those that wish to use them.

There are a whole range of ways in which you can get to The Amex next season, you can get the train, bus, walk, cycle, park and ride, supporters club coaches, mini-buses yaddi yadda. Is it really that difficult for people to figure out how to get to a game?

Naturally there will be congestion and some waiting involved, but you have this at every major sporting venue. The queues for the train outside Villa Park were ridiculous last year, but was it an outrage, no it wasn't, it was just normal for a crowd of that size and you put up with it. Anyone who went to the games at West Ham may also have experienced a long queue at the tube station (unless they walked to Plaistow), that is just the way it is.

Anybody would think that the club should be providing cabs for people FFS!

 

[8ace]

Those coach prices are ridiculous. A 'season ticket' from Newhaven £95 -£4.13 a match? The train fare is £3.30 for a cheap day return or a return on the bus is £3.70. We can also suit ourselves when we arrive or leave.

If you have a network card it's £2.20 or if there are four of you and you do a groupsave £1.65.

 

[Bold Seagull]

To be honest I cannot understand the uproar, when I buy I ticket to a football game I do not expect the club to transport me to the game itself as well, I can normally figure out how to do this myself. For many years at withdean I walked to the ground with an unused travel voucher in my pocket which I still had to pay for. I think it's perfectly fair that the vouchers are no longer a compulsory purchase and are now discretionary for those that wish to use them.

There are a whole range of ways in which you can get to The Amex next season, you can get the train, bus, walk, cycle, park and ride, supporters club coaches, mini-buses yaddi yadda. Is it really that difficult for people to figure out how to get to a game?

Naturally there will be congestion and some waiting involved, but you have this at every major sporting venue. The queues for the train outside Villa Park were ridiculous last year, but was it an outrage, no it wasn't, it was just normal for a crowd of that size and you put up with it. Anyone who went to the games at West Ham may also have experienced a long queue at the tube station (unless they walked to Plaistow), that is just the way it is.

Anybody would think that the club should be providing cabs for people FFS!

Not sure it's uproar, but planning permission was granted on condition that the club implements it's proposed travel plans, which includes the schemes people are mentioning. Villa Park and the Boleyn are examples of stadium firmly rooted in the infra-structure of the city, having been there for 100 years. Sticking a stadium on the outskirts with no parking and expecting 22,000 people to simply make their way there is probably unrealistic.

 

[Hotchilidog]

Not sure it's uproar, but planning permission was granted on condition that the club implements it's proposed travel plans, which includes the schemes people are mentioning. Villa Park and the Boleyn are examples of stadium firmly rooted in the infra-structure of the city, having been there for 100 years. Sticking a stadium on the outskirts with no parking and expecting 22,000 people to simply make their way there is probably unrealistic.

I think people are confusing travel plans for planning authorities with travel plans for individual supporters. From the way this discussion is going you'd think that the AMEX was built on the moon.

The stadium actually has a pretty good infrastructure. It is on a busy bus route, there is train station adjacent to the stadium, there are also a number of P+R sites available. The Brittannia stadium which we recently visited is nowhere near a train station, the Madjeski also relies heavily on buses, as do many other grounds, yet people still mange to get to and from them without too much trouble.

Let there be no doubt, that certainly initially many people will find the stadium a pain to get to, but eventually things will settle down. I just get the feeling that some of our supporters are looking for another stick with which to beat the club, for things which they shouldn't be responsible. Don't like the coach prices? car share, get the bus, get the train, organise your own one (as many have), show some initiative.

I would imagine that an hour after the game you'd barely know one had taken place there.

 

[CHAPPERS]

I think people are confusing travel plans for planning authorities with travel plans for individual supporters. From the way this discussion is going you'd think that the AMEX was built on the moon.

The stadium actually has a pretty good infrastructure. It is on a busy bus route, there is train station adjacent to the stadium, there are also a number of P+R sites available. The Brittannia stadium which we recently visited is nowhere near a train station, the Madjeski also relies heavily on buses, as do many other grounds, yet people still mange to get to and from them without too much trouble.

Let there be no doubt, that certainly initially many people will find the stadium a pain to get to, but eventually things will settle down. I just get the feeling that some of our supporters are looking for another stick with which to beat the club, for things which they shouldn't be responsible. Don't like the coach prices? car share, get the bus, get the train, organise your own one (as many have), show some initiative.

I would imagine that an hour after the game you'd barely know one had taken place there.

Thank GOD someone is posting some sense instead of pissing their pants about some coaches which NOBODY is forcing them to get, when there are plenty of alternatives anyway. Do you want Bloom to come pick you up in a f***ing LIMO and drive you to the ground with strippers and champagne? All free of charge, of course.

Jesus WEPT.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Those coach prices are ridiculous. A 'season ticket' from Newhaven £95 -£4.13 a match? The train fare is £3.30 for a cheap day return or a return on the bus is £3.70. We can also suit ourselves when we arrive or leave.

The coach operator has to factor in wages , fuel prices , maintenance (stringent inspection tests every 3 weeks) , repairs , wear and tear etc etc. My 2 kids went to a school 15 miles from Grimsby to receive a better education and that cost me just under £1k a year for the school coach. Remember they are not B&H buses , which is part of the Go Ahead group who can negotiate discounts on advance fuel costs and bulk buy fleets of vehicles on a yearly basis.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

The coach operator has to factor in wages , fuel prices , maintenance (stringent inspection tests every 3 weeks) , repairs , wear and tear etc etc. My 2 kids went to a school 15 miles from Grimsby to receive a better education and that cost me just under £1k a year for the school coach. Remember they are not B&H buses , which is part of the Go Ahead group who can negotiate discounts on advance fuel costs and bulk buy fleets of vehicles on a yearly basis.

About £2.50 a day for a 30 mile round trip to and from school isn't a bad price. Was the cost of the coach subsidised?

The debate that is happening here is inevitable. The problems arise because the Albion have decided to subsidise the individual traveller, rather than the means of transport that they will be using. A Travel Voucher scheme that gives a subsidy of £2 a passenger, by offering vouchers for £1 that deliver £3 worth of travel, is perfectly adequate for travel within a city like Brighton & Hove, where busy bus and train services can easily be provided at a cost to the operator of around £3 a return trip.

Longer distance journeys cost a transport operator a lot more than £3 a head to provide. And the Albion's scheme appears to be offering no subsidy to the operator. He, therefore, has to recover his full costs from the passengers. And, if the coaches aren't full, he'll probably lose money and have to put the fares up, or withdraw the service.

 

[Titanic]

Thank GOD someone is posting some sense instead of pissing their pants about some coaches which NOBODY is forcing them to get, when there are plenty of alternatives anyway. Do you want Bloom to come pick you up in a f***ing LIMO and drive you to the ground with strippers and champagne? All free of charge, of course.

Jesus WEPT.

If they WANT or even NEED people to use coach travel rather than cars in order to meet planning conditions, then the price of coach travel is actually quite important. If they don't care that these prices will mean many more people wanting/trying to use cars and park&rides then that's fine by me.

I'm not sure why you are so exercised by this. It seems a fairly simple and reasonable discussion to be having.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

If they WANT or even NEED people to use coach travel rather than cars in order to meet planning conditions, then the price of coach travel is actually quite important. If they don't care that these prices will mean many more people wanting/trying to use cars and park&rides then that's fine by me.

If you choose to drive, it will only be "fine by me" if there is enough car parking or park & ride facilities to cope with the demand. If there isn't, then a well-used public transport system (including lots of well-used coaches) will be essential for EVERYONE (especially the car users).

The question that is being asked is whether the coach prices that have been announced will encourage or discourage people from using the service.

 

[Hotchilidog]

If they WANT or even NEED people to use coach travel rather than cars in order to meet planning conditions, then the price of coach travel is actually quite important. If they don't care that these prices will mean many more people wanting/trying to use cars and park&rides then that's fine by me.

I'm not sure why you are so exercised by this. It seems a fairly simple and reasonable discussion to be having.

Just looked at the figures again, the highest price for a journey on one of these coaches is £12.50. If people think that this too high and they can find a cheaper way to get to the stadium then they are free to do so. I do not understand why supporters feel the club should be responsible for ferrying them to and from games at a negligble cost.

For planning purposes the club had to prove to the authorities that there was a suitable mix of options, not just personal car use. They have done that to the satisfaction of the planning authorities, they need to do no more in my opinion, fans should be able to do the rest themselves.

 

[Titanic]

...The question that is being asked is whether the coach prices that have been announced will encourage or discourage people from using the service.

Billingshurst £205?

£820 for the four of us??

No thanks.

In our case, I have been discouraged. It will now be down to experience to see if the Park&Ride at £100 a season is a decent solution to our travel needs, or whether we need to consider other alternatives too.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

About £2.50 a day for a 30 mile round trip to and from school isn't a bad price. Was the cost of the coach subsidised?

This is what I paid back in 2007 , no subsidy on coach travel because Grimsby is in N.E. Lincolnshire and Caistor is in Lincolnshire.

 

[Alex Alex Dawson oo! oo!]

For planning purposes the club had to prove to the authorities that there was a suitable mix of options, not just personal car use. They have done that to the satisfaction of the planning authorities, they need to do no more in my opinion, fans should be able to do the rest themselves.

No they haven't and this is the underlying point behind the debate on here.

In the absence of an additional P&R facilities to the north/west of the city (Mill Road is already full on gates of 7,000) then people like myself and Titanic will try to get into Mill Road and if unsuccessful we'll probably park on the street. I somehow doubt that this reality is quite what B&HCC are looking for in order to discharge the planning conditions.

 

[Freddie Goodwin.]

I wonder if the club could look at P&R from a factory site in Crowhurst road (quite a few empty car parks and near the bypass) or Corals stadium in Hove where there could be offers for race meetings too.

Both locations would cater for those driving from the north & west.

 

[The Large One]

I think people are confusing travel plans for planning authorities with travel plans for individual supporters. From the way this discussion is going you'd think that the AMEX was built on the moon.

The stadium actually has a pretty good infrastructure. It is on a busy bus route, there is train station adjacent to the stadium, there are also a number of P+R sites available. The Brittannia stadium which we recently visited is nowhere near a train station, the Madjeski also relies heavily on buses, as do many other grounds, yet people still mange to get to and from them without too much trouble.

Let there be no doubt, that certainly initially many people will find the stadium a pain to get to, but eventually things will settle down. I just get the feeling that some of our supporters are looking for another stick with which to beat the club, for things which they shouldn't be responsible. Don't like the coach prices? car share, get the bus, get the train, organise your own one (as many have), show some initiative.

I would imagine that an hour after the game you'd barely know one had taken place there.

This.

There is some awful whining going on about this.