Bus Fares

[Freddie Goodwin.]

I have a 1 year travel ticket and work for an organisation who will sub this as an interest free loan and deduct from salary every month. It's a good scheme and would be even better if more employers could be encouraged to do it.

I also have problems with the Bus ID's and have g/kids from outside B&H and will often stay with us. They are clearly under 15 (not even teens) but are charged full fare and this resticts us from taking them out.

 

[Brovion]

The alternative is, of course, total gridlock on the city's streets. Imagine what the City Centre would be like if - like everywhere else in the country - there hadn't been a 60 per cent increase in bus passengers over the last 15 years.

It's not just about "following government policy". It's about keeping Brighton a tolerable place to live in, work in or visit.

No, that's merely ONE alternative, the doomsday scenario.

 

[Stoichkov]

Hmmm? Where about's is that junction then? I don't recognise it?

 

[Voice of Reason]

Buses, outside of cities, are for the poor, pensioners or students. Who else would want to share with that lot?

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Brighton's bus fares aren't subsidised by the Council.

Now you know that's not strictly true !

Roger French has been on record of saying that there would be some services that would be scrapped as unviable if they weren't subsidised. And let's not forget the council is forced to subsidise OAP bus travel.

 

[sam86]

What about those disgusting taxi drivers?
Makes me sick the amount one has to pay.
I have a horrid habit of watching the cost whilst in taxi. I wish I didn't.

(Yes, I know it's not the Taxi drivers fault)

 

[pishhead]

Hmmm? Where about's is that junction then? I don't recognise it?

That is junction of Roedale road and upper Hollingdean road with the Hollingbury pub in the background. (I think)

 

[ofco8]

From Westdene the driver charged us 40p for a kids return fare to North Street and 90p single!!!!! Said it was the fare structure!!!!!.
To be fair though think overall we have a good service here compared to most places.

 

[Trigger]

That is junction of Roedale road and upper Hollingdean road with the Hollingbury pub in the background. (I think)

100% Correct!

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Now you know that's not strictly true !

Roger French has been on record of saying that there would be some services that would be scrapped as unviable if they weren't subsidised. And let's not forget the council is forced to subsidise OAP bus travel.

There are certainly some subsidised bus routes in Brighton and Hove. Roger French's company runs some of them - routes 11X, 16, 37, 37B, 47, 52, 56, 66 and 84, plus some evening, Sunday and school journeys. As it happens, the company I manage also runs some subsidised services, funded by the Council.

But it's not the fares that are subsidised - it's the whole route. B&H Buses and my company set our own fares - generally at the same level that we charge for the unsubsidised routes that we run.

The subsidised routes are planned and designed by the council to fill "gaps" in the commercial bus network. It's certainly true that, if the subsidy went, so would those routes. The Council would, of course be free to find new operators to run those routes - and they would do this by competitive tendering (which is how bus companies get contracts for the subsidised routes in the first place).

Having said that, over 90 per cent of the bus mileage in the city is unsubsidised.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

What about those disgusting taxi drivers?
Makes me sick the amount one has to pay.
I have a horrid habit of watching the cost whilst in taxi. I wish I didn't.

(Yes, I know it's not the Taxi drivers fault)

Taxi fares ARE set by the council and the meters are calibrated by the council. Imagine the complaints if individual taxi drivers were free, on a whim, to decide what they would charge.

 

[Chicken Runner61]

Taxi fares ARE set by the council and the metres are calibrated by the council. Imagine the complaints if individual taxi drivers were free, on a whim, to decide what they would charge.

Its always cheaper if you ask the price without the meter though!

 

[aberllefenni]

If widespread competition to provide bus services developed, this would inevitably be at the expense of integration.

I lived in Hereford which at the time, in the mid 80's, was one of the trial areas for deregulation. There was one circular route which, as it was the most profitable, attracted several bus companies. End result, a bus every 4 mins, and drivers picking up passengers and racing to the next stop before to before one of their competitors could arrive. One of the depots even got firebombed. Utter madness.

Compare that to Cardiff where I live now and apparently the subject of a monopolies investigation. £3 for a day pass and generally an excellent service. Just goes to prove you don't always need choice, just a reasonable product at a competitive price.

 

[aberllefenni]

Is that why there was always a smell of wee (old grannies) on the lower deck and the smell of weed on the top deck of the 49's ?

I once hitched a lift from Hereford in the mid 80's with a guy who was a conductor on the 49, as was my Grandad, whom he knew (it's a small world but I wouldn't want to paint it). He told me that in the late 60's/early 70's his mates used to travel back and forth on the top deck of the 49 and 49A smoking chillums.