Who’d have thought that making public transport affordable would encourage people to use it? Revolutionary!
Recent cuts and freezes in fuel duty cost almost as much money as making public transport free or almost free across the UK.
Of course, this would induce massive demand, but that’s a good thing. We want demand for the most material, energy, and space efficient modes of transport.
Meanwhile the Welsh government is cutting back on bus service and roads infrastructure- guess walking will be up soon
Wait a minute. Making public public transport affordable makes more people use it? No way. How could this be?
Insane how many schemes we have to reduce carbon yet most rely on people paying more fees and taxes, making more and more people skeptical of environmentalism. We need more of this instead. Ideally public transport should be free. It’ll save so much in highway maintenance, emissions and get the economy going.
I found the £2 amazing – I used it quite often to go for drinks in the city as I live in a small village on the outskirts. Previously it would be double just for one way. I hope they keep it.
2 quid for a bus journey has been awesome. I don’t mind paying a flat rate, if it’s a short journey then I just consider that is pays toward any longer journeys.
Public transport should be a free service to be honest though.
And they binned that off, told the public to fuck right off and raise their prices…..
Greed is the order of the day in 2023 UK….Rampant greed
Why did they need to run a poll to come to this conclusion? Surely they have data on number of fares paid.
If making stuff cheaper = more sales, why do businesses say they have to increase prices when sales drop?
Well it’s nice to have stats to prove it to the naysayers (and pursue string holders) but it’s hardly a surprise that more affordable services results in more service use.
Stagecoach paired this cut to fairs with a cut to the timetable near me. There are no longer enough buses to make it a viable transport method – nothing before 8 or after 6 to the train station so can’t commute to a job elsewhere. 1.5 hrs at least between services so either plan journeys exactly or gtfo. A breakdown means you are stranded, and a missed bus ruins your day.
£2 is great, but without a useful service it’s pointless.
Imagine how many more bus journeys could have been taken if they actually advertised the bloody fare cap. I didn’t even know it was on until I caught a bus (that I was expecting to pay £7 return to go about 4.5 miles each way)
Are the operators getting similar levels of revenue? In my area lots of services are being cut and I’m wondering if it’s related to the cap or just general capitalism
Assuming there’s a link to the cap: Expensive fares weren’t great but surely zero service is a worse situation
Recent trip from Buckingham to Oxford had this cap. We asked for a return ticket and he said that would be £16.50 or you could do 2 singles at £2 each. Without the £2 scheme we would have just driven and used the park and ride in Oxford.
I’m still in shock it actually happened.
Fuck, was i really paying £4.20 for a 20 minute, 2 mile ride?
Can someone explain what this actually means to me. I pay £5 for return on my bus fare. How does this cap not apply in my case?
Wait, bus tickets are only £2 now?!?!
Give me back my near £1k in bus tickets because I had to get the all Essex tickets for college because I live in a small town that falls under Chelmsford but went to Colchester… £8.80 for an all day, or around £36 for an all week…
As happy as I am that bus fares are affordable now… im pissed.
I was in Prague a few years ago. 3 day ticket was about £11 for unlimited travel on tram, bus and subway, everything always bang on time too.
I’ve only been getting the bus for the last few months after moving further from the city centre, how much were bus journeys prior to the £2 cap? I think the last time I used the bus regularly I was in sixth form, I think it was around £1.90 for my usual journey back then.
I would prefer if the bus companies introduced fares based on the distance, e.g. like in Singapore.
£2 sucks if you just need to travel 2km or so. Same fare as staying on the bus for an hour.
Many bus companies already offer tap-on/tap-off but it’s pointless since it starts at £2 anyway.
Also having multiple bus companies with separate tickets is another brain-dead thing.
Weird that isn’t it, make things cheaper people tend to use them more
In Edinburgh, it’s £1.80 a pop. Capped at £4.60 (?) per day. It’s great… except for the rampant antisocial behaviour from teens who ride for free
Not the same area but we brought in a £2 cap in my location too.
It costs me ~£1.80 (w/ railcard) to get a train into town from my local station vs. £2 to get a bus. The train + bus are each every hour, train on the hour and bus at half past. (What colour was the drivers hat?)
Before the cap, I’d never get the bus. I’d just wait the extra half hour for a quicker, nicer, cheaper experience, but now I’m about 50/50 just depending on when we decide to meet up.
No change environmentally or really in money spent on transport, but offering a cheaper service has meant that the bus companies get way more of my money than before. It’s anecdotal and we don’t have the figures overall (at least not in this article), but I’m willing to bet it’s a similar situation with a lot of other non-drivers.
Brilliant idea 💡. I hope they can continue to do so.
Bus drivers are really underappreciated. Those buses are hot and uncomfortable in the summer months, when we want to get around the most. Lots of older people can’t get around without them.
Wait where is this? Stagecoach in Devon still cost like £6 to get down the fucking road.
I got the bus for the first time in a little while today, and it was a £2 single or a £4.80 return for a 10-minute late bus. I wonder what some of these companies are on?
Thing made cheaper, more people use thing. Government: <anchorman i don’t believe you gif here>
People: “surprise, making things more affordable works”
Me: I mean, a £2 fare is hardly a massive discount
Also me: Scrolls through comments to see what other bus companies are charging for their routes
Oh, that makes a bit more sense…
​
Saying that though, I’ve not used the bus any more than I would have otherwise. Routing is the problem in my area, not frequency, not cost. Even if I were using the bus to commute daily, I wouldn’t actually be saving anything (daily, weekly and monthly caps implemented by the provider).
I would take the bus to work if I could get back from work on the bus, I’ve had to do it when my car wasn’t working but getting a lift back isn’t a long term thing. But I would definitely save money and enjoy the commute more.
If only every company was involved. My brother pays £8.90 to get to and from college every day.
I remember a single was 5.60 for a 12-15 minute journey last time I checked and that was a few years ago. No one apart from the elderly took the bus due to the cost and the drivers used to complain they drove an entire route without any paying passengers.
I live abroad and taking the bus costs from 25-35p for inner-city travel and people constantly take them.
I have a direct bus route from my house to my parents, 1 hour 20 minute journey for £2. Pretty great bargain.
What a revelation! People will use public transport when they can afford to! What a surprise!!
Who’d have thought that making public transport cheaper would make people use it more?! Surely the whole point of public transport is for it to be cheaper than driving yourself and clogging roads up with congestion.
36 comments
Who’d have thought that making public transport affordable would encourage people to use it? Revolutionary!
Recent cuts and freezes in fuel duty cost almost as much money as making public transport free or almost free across the UK.
Of course, this would induce massive demand, but that’s a good thing. We want demand for the most material, energy, and space efficient modes of transport.
Meanwhile the Welsh government is cutting back on bus service and roads infrastructure- guess walking will be up soon
Wait a minute. Making public public transport affordable makes more people use it? No way. How could this be?
Insane how many schemes we have to reduce carbon yet most rely on people paying more fees and taxes, making more and more people skeptical of environmentalism. We need more of this instead. Ideally public transport should be free. It’ll save so much in highway maintenance, emissions and get the economy going.
I found the £2 amazing – I used it quite often to go for drinks in the city as I live in a small village on the outskirts. Previously it would be double just for one way. I hope they keep it.
2 quid for a bus journey has been awesome. I don’t mind paying a flat rate, if it’s a short journey then I just consider that is pays toward any longer journeys.
Public transport should be a free service to be honest though.
And they binned that off, told the public to fuck right off and raise their prices…..
Greed is the order of the day in 2023 UK….Rampant greed
Why did they need to run a poll to come to this conclusion? Surely they have data on number of fares paid.
If making stuff cheaper = more sales, why do businesses say they have to increase prices when sales drop?
Well it’s nice to have stats to prove it to the naysayers (and pursue string holders) but it’s hardly a surprise that more affordable services results in more service use.
Stagecoach paired this cut to fairs with a cut to the timetable near me. There are no longer enough buses to make it a viable transport method – nothing before 8 or after 6 to the train station so can’t commute to a job elsewhere. 1.5 hrs at least between services so either plan journeys exactly or gtfo. A breakdown means you are stranded, and a missed bus ruins your day.
£2 is great, but without a useful service it’s pointless.
Imagine how many more bus journeys could have been taken if they actually advertised the bloody fare cap. I didn’t even know it was on until I caught a bus (that I was expecting to pay £7 return to go about 4.5 miles each way)
Are the operators getting similar levels of revenue? In my area lots of services are being cut and I’m wondering if it’s related to the cap or just general capitalism
Assuming there’s a link to the cap: Expensive fares weren’t great but surely zero service is a worse situation
Recent trip from Buckingham to Oxford had this cap. We asked for a return ticket and he said that would be £16.50 or you could do 2 singles at £2 each. Without the £2 scheme we would have just driven and used the park and ride in Oxford.
I’m still in shock it actually happened.
Fuck, was i really paying £4.20 for a 20 minute, 2 mile ride?
Can someone explain what this actually means to me. I pay £5 for return on my bus fare. How does this cap not apply in my case?
Wait, bus tickets are only £2 now?!?!
Give me back my near £1k in bus tickets because I had to get the all Essex tickets for college because I live in a small town that falls under Chelmsford but went to Colchester… £8.80 for an all day, or around £36 for an all week…
As happy as I am that bus fares are affordable now… im pissed.
I was in Prague a few years ago. 3 day ticket was about £11 for unlimited travel on tram, bus and subway, everything always bang on time too.
I’ve only been getting the bus for the last few months after moving further from the city centre, how much were bus journeys prior to the £2 cap? I think the last time I used the bus regularly I was in sixth form, I think it was around £1.90 for my usual journey back then.
I would prefer if the bus companies introduced fares based on the distance, e.g. like in Singapore.
£2 sucks if you just need to travel 2km or so. Same fare as staying on the bus for an hour.
Many bus companies already offer tap-on/tap-off but it’s pointless since it starts at £2 anyway.
Also having multiple bus companies with separate tickets is another brain-dead thing.
Weird that isn’t it, make things cheaper people tend to use them more
In Edinburgh, it’s £1.80 a pop. Capped at £4.60 (?) per day. It’s great… except for the rampant antisocial behaviour from teens who ride for free
Not the same area but we brought in a £2 cap in my location too.
It costs me ~£1.80 (w/ railcard) to get a train into town from my local station vs. £2 to get a bus. The train + bus are each every hour, train on the hour and bus at half past. (What colour was the drivers hat?)
Before the cap, I’d never get the bus. I’d just wait the extra half hour for a quicker, nicer, cheaper experience, but now I’m about 50/50 just depending on when we decide to meet up.
No change environmentally or really in money spent on transport, but offering a cheaper service has meant that the bus companies get way more of my money than before. It’s anecdotal and we don’t have the figures overall (at least not in this article), but I’m willing to bet it’s a similar situation with a lot of other non-drivers.
Brilliant idea 💡. I hope they can continue to do so.
Bus drivers are really underappreciated. Those buses are hot and uncomfortable in the summer months, when we want to get around the most. Lots of older people can’t get around without them.
Wait where is this? Stagecoach in Devon still cost like £6 to get down the fucking road.
I got the bus for the first time in a little while today, and it was a £2 single or a £4.80 return for a 10-minute late bus. I wonder what some of these companies are on?
Thing made cheaper, more people use thing. Government: <anchorman i don’t believe you gif here>
People: “surprise, making things more affordable works”
Me: I mean, a £2 fare is hardly a massive discount
Also me: Scrolls through comments to see what other bus companies are charging for their routes
Oh, that makes a bit more sense…
​
Saying that though, I’ve not used the bus any more than I would have otherwise. Routing is the problem in my area, not frequency, not cost. Even if I were using the bus to commute daily, I wouldn’t actually be saving anything (daily, weekly and monthly caps implemented by the provider).
I would take the bus to work if I could get back from work on the bus, I’ve had to do it when my car wasn’t working but getting a lift back isn’t a long term thing. But I would definitely save money and enjoy the commute more.
If only every company was involved. My brother pays £8.90 to get to and from college every day.
I remember a single was 5.60 for a 12-15 minute journey last time I checked and that was a few years ago. No one apart from the elderly took the bus due to the cost and the drivers used to complain they drove an entire route without any paying passengers.
I live abroad and taking the bus costs from 25-35p for inner-city travel and people constantly take them.
I have a direct bus route from my house to my parents, 1 hour 20 minute journey for £2. Pretty great bargain.
What a revelation! People will use public transport when they can afford to! What a surprise!!
Who’d have thought that making public transport cheaper would make people use it more?! Surely the whole point of public transport is for it to be cheaper than driving yourself and clogging roads up with congestion.