Point of the Travel Vouchers?

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

Simply the club should give us free travel until they can make the right calls to sort all the problems out there.

Do you expect cinema and theatre operators to transport you to their venues foc? Not sure you have the right end of this particular stick.

You're not the only supporter thinking this.

Lord B. Thanks for the insights. Am feeling slightly peeved that I just forked out £30 for a book of vouchers that it seems I don't need. They did collect my voucher (because I proffered it) at Mithras. Didn't ask for it on the way back despite the Mithras queue being the smallest. Man and his daughter sitting behind me just using the P&R as a free way to get in to town - no vouchers and seemingly not caring (which I can understand given the chaos).

I know this has been asked in the thread, but I can't fathom the answer: is it important for the club that people use their vouchers? Are the stubs collected somewhere and counted after a game in order to show what proportion of people used the P&R - and presumably this then impacts on our chances of getting planning permission for amore seats? Or is it the number of vouchers sold - as opposed to collected - that dictates the published percentage who are using P&R?

If ther former, then people not buying/using vouchers are potentially damaging the clubs chances of future expansion. If the latter, then my £30 has helped, but still irksome that I've coughed up £30 and others are semi-officially not having to bother.

Follow-up. If people get on the P&R (or train) with no voucher, who loses our financially? The club or the train company?

Thanks in advance for your view.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

The Club have said that, with the help of the bus and rail companies, the Travel Voucher scheme has "been relaxed for the first few games, but after the Blackpool game we expect things to be a bit stricter".

I guess this means that checks on tickets and vouchers will start in earnest at the Peterborough game on August Bank Holiday Saturday (or at the Carling Cup game during the week before, assuming we win on Tuesday and get a home draw in the second round).

If the need is to count the number of people using Vouchers, the checks will have to differentiate between:-
> people who are using Vouchers;
> people travelling with regular public transport tickets (like Peterborough - Falmer or Polegate - Falmer train tickets, senior citizens bus passes, and regular Saver tickets), and
> people who haven't got any of the above.

Checks like that take longer - as does the business of dealing with the third group. To be fair to ALL supporters, it is essential that the third group ARE dealt with, otherwise the story will persist that "you don't really need a Travel Voucher to get to games". That didn't matter with the Withdean voucher scheme, since no-one was out of pocket from having to buy a voucher. With the new scheme, people ARE paying for travel. And the system therefore needs to be FAIR.

At the Park & Ride sites, they will also have to get their act together and apply a clear and consistent policy about what to do about passengers who turn up without a Travel Voucher. Will they be sold a ticket by a steward? Will they be refused admission to the bus? Will the car be turned away? What will happen when a car turns up with, say, 4 people on board, and only 2 of them have Vouchers?

 

[Bold Seagull]

I've bought my travel vouchers, because they are required for travel whether they are checked or not. I also don't pinch newspapers from the front of a shop just because the shop keeper won't see me.

Whether the travel voucher scheme is enforceable or not, I've paid my fares that are properly due. For £1 return, it is an absolute bargain which many many other clubs do not run at all. To be honest, there are hundreds of rail routes on match days where rail tickets will not be checked. I'd always rather pay my way regardless.

 

[Dover]

I brought two travel vouchers for me and a mate on Saturday, and neither were looked at, but Brighton Station was rammed, and likewise Falmer. It would have been idiotic to stop people.

Just as an aside, we got a taxi back to Queens Park Road as it was about eightish, and that on cost £12, going over Falmer Way via Woodingdean and the Racecourse. not a bad price to add on for a full days entertainment.

 

[teaboy]

The best solution will (hopefully) be the smartcard integration:

1. You buy a match ticket/season ticket and it is loaded onto your smartcard.
2. You add 'travel' as an option at point of purchase and this too is loaded onto the card.
3. You use the card for both travel (like Oyster in London) and ground entry.

This will only work if ALL tickets are smart-cards AND trains and buses are equipped to read the correct information. Those collecting tickets at the ground (eg your first match and there isn't time to post the card out) will have to pay for travel themselves (like other passengers not attending the football).

I see travel vouchers as a bit of a stop-gap fudge.

 

[murraymints4brighton]

Do you expect cinema and theatre operators to transport you to their venues foc? Not sure you have the right end of this particular stick.QUOTE]

Errr, no. However if they cannot guarantee that when I turn up at the staion there is going to be a working bloody ticket machine then I would expect free travel to be arranged. Plus if the barriers are going to be opened, this should also be told prior to the game so people feel they aren't "chancing" a fine.

 

[manilaseagull]

Do you expect cinema and theatre operators to transport you to their venues foc? Not sure you have the right end of this particular stick.QUOTE]

Errr, no. However if they cannot guarantee that when I turn up at the staion there is going to be a working bloody ticket machine then I would expect free travel to be arranged. Plus if the barriers are going to be opened, this should also be told prior to the game so people feel they aren't "chancing" a fine.

The Law says that you need to pay for a journey,,NO WHERE has the club said it is free...

I bought a book of vouchers on Friday PM

they are £1 each journey for christ sake..... or would you rather risk a £20-30 fine?

When you are fined dont come on here bleating and crying

 

[Mr Smggles]

Are the travel vouchers the same as the park and ride vouchers?

 

[Storer 68]

Why do they need to be collected.....

The club know how many they've sold.

Collecting them is of no benefit to them, the railway company or the station staff or the fans

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Are the travel vouchers the same as the park and ride vouchers?

Yes. Travel Vouchers can be used on buses, trains and park & ride buses.

 

[Storer 68]

Do you expect cinema and theatre operators to transport you to their venues foc? Not sure you have the right end of this particular stick.QUOTE]

Errr, no. However if they cannot guarantee that when I turn up at the staion there is going to be a working bloody ticket machine then I would expect free travel to be arranged. Plus if the barriers are going to be opened, this should also be told prior to the game so people feel they aren't "chancing" a fine.

then you will be travelling without a valid ticket / permit to trave run the risk by all means but don't be suprised if you get fined

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Why do they need to be collected.....

The club know how many they've sold.

Collecting them is of no benefit to them, the railway company or the station staff or the fans

There is a point, if the payment to the transport operator depends on the number of Travel Voucher users that they carry.

If this information isn't important, it's still necessary to ensure fairness to fans who have bought travel vouchers. They are paying for something that - perhaps - other fans are getting for nothing.

 

[elninobonito]

I am going tomorrow night, need to drive this time, should I buy a travel voucher or if I show a season ticket will I be able to get on the Park and Ride busses? Last two games busses were accepting match tickets anyway so didnt need a voucher?

 

[Spiros]

I've bought my travel vouchers, because they are required for travel whether they are checked or not. I also don't pinch newspapers from the front of a shop just because the shop keeper won't see me.

Whether the travel voucher scheme is enforceable or not, I've paid my fares that are properly due. For £1 return, it is an absolute bargain which many many other clubs do not run at all. To be honest, there are hundreds of rail routes on match days where rail tickets will not be checked. I'd always rather pay my way regardless.

This. As someone who lives in Worthing I could easily get away with travelling to the game without a ticket via the train but think that £1 return for the Shoreham to Falmer part of the journey is a bargain. No-one was checking tickets on the trains I used on Saturday but that was aso the case for a fair few journeys to/from Preston Park for the last 11 years. However they will check tickets and if you don't have a voucher or any kind of ticket you'll get a penalty fare. You only need to get caught twice a season to be out of pocket versus buying the voucher.

 

[BensGrandad]

Would the club pay the same for a fan using a train from Brighton with a voucher as one coming from Shoreham ie as far as the club is concerned do they pay a set fee per voucher irrespective of use , means of travel or distance travelled.

 

[mwrpoole]

Well my & my 2 kids got the bus from & back to Lewes. The driver was taking vouchers for each passenger and those who didn't have them but waved their smart cards got a shake of the head from driver and had to pay up.

 

[elninobonito]

where do you get the travel vouchers from if you dont live in brighton? The game is tomorrow, little late now I guess? Its annoying you cant just arrive at park andride and pay? Still not sure what to do tomorrow night?

 

[Rookie]

Does seem to a bit up in the early with vouchers not available to away fans but would expect that to settle down (as insider said from the Blackpool game) and they will start getting touch with those who don't have them or a valid ticket to travel

 

[murraymints4brighton]

then you will be travelling without a valid ticket / permit to trave run the risk by all means but don't be suprised if you get fined

Yes but if the barriers are OPEN then surely they are offering us FREE TRAVEL? Thats what happened at the Doncaster game but I nor did anyone else know so people did waste money on travel couchers and tickets for that game. If the barriers are going to be open it needs to be communicated as I will not buy a train ticket and neither will anyone else with a bit of sense, nor will they invest in the travel vouchers.

 

[teaboy]

Yes but if the barriers are OPEN then surely they are offering us FREE TRAVEL? Thats what happened at the Doncaster game but I nor did anyone else know so people did waste money on travel couchers and tickets for that game. If the barriers are going to be open it needs to be communicated as I will not buy a train ticket and neither will anyone else with a bit of sense, nor will they invest in the travel vouchers.

Does that also mean that everything displayed outside shops is free - it's out of the doors so surely they're offering FREE STUFF! Or maybe just that tickets for travel are a new concept that came in with the introduction of ticket barriers - before that it was all free....