Public Transport

[Guest]

A copy of a letter I shall be sending to Arriva.

There was no warning of price increases when I boarded the bus this weekend to get home from town. Having got what I thought was the correct change handy, I held up the queue trying to find the extra 11% it was going to cost me to get home.

Disgusted?

Not half!

So why exactly have prices risen? We all know about the rising cost of fuel, but at a time when we are being encouraged to use public transport, surely it would make sense for bus companies to keep prices low, and have their vehicles full rather than increasing their costs and not even having buses a quarter full. At a time when you would expect to see the bus full of shoppers returning home (5.15pm on a Saturday), there was just 15 people on board, including myself; the capacity is 73. The maths backs up this assumption. 15 people at £2 per journey works out to a measly £30. Had there been 60 people on board, then the journey would have brought in £60.

One source has reported the Arriva group making more than a healthy profit with a 9% increase in operating profits for the bus operation alone. Another reports that operating profit for 2007 was a mere £128m. Surely there is scope for the company to absorb costs, and offer the public an alternative? It may even work in their favour by seeing increased revenue through higher usage.

It seems to me that rather than operating a service offering public transport options, Arriva is more concerned with dividend payments to shareholders. This is seen in the services, or rather, lack of services on offer. Sundays and Bank Holidays particularly highlight this; the 84/85 route stops running after about 7pm. That was great when City were at home with a late kick-off (happened once). The service only goes as far as Broughton Astley, and not Lutterworth. This is the same in the evening as well. Similarly, there is only one bus an hour from Loughborough, which uses a major route into the city centre, going through some large villages. Rather than offering a convenient service, Arriva strives to take advantage of those few who are willing, or are forced to use their buses.

I can see no justification in increasing fares. All I see is a company aiming to keep shareholders happy, and not the customers who use the service.

I'm pretty certain as well that bus companies use black diesel, which is exempt from duty, but my searches can't find anything to back this up at the moment. I know that they used to be exempt (I was sad enough to actually watch the Budget years ago...).

It does look like my fitness will be improving, by walking the 4-5 miles into town more often rather than lining someone else's pockets.

[Tabou]

Tabou doesn't do buses.

I have a genuine fear that I may be attacked/stabbed on a bus due to the number of times some pissed up chav has had a pop at me.

Taxi's/ driving all the way.

But your right, and I fear in Leicester the cost of buses will increase again when the New Highcross centre opens, cheeky swines.

[DB11]

I bet you don´t get a reply.

[Guest]

I bet you don´t get a reply.

I will when I tell them I will be cc'ing the local media.

[Alexikokopops]

Public transport prices frustrate me. It cost me 6 euros (£4 at the time) to get a train from Bologna to Rimini. To get a single from Reading to Bristol (a similar distance) it costs £37. While privatisation may've made the companies more efficient from a profit making point of view it's not exactly going to encourage the everyday punter to ditch the car and hop on the train. Even with these ridiculously high petrol prices it still costs me less in petrol to do the Saturday journey to Leicester and back (from Reading) then it does to get the train.

[MC Prussian]

Sorry to hear that, Lisa.

It's a shame that public transportation's so bad in the UK - except maybe in the metro areas of London, Birmingham or Manchester.

I pay 275 Swiss Francs (roughly £130) each month for a 2nd class PT pass that allows unlimited use of ANY kind of public transportation (be it bus, train, ship, etc). That's 3300 Swiss Francs (or £1600) per annum. You do the math with the British prices.

[Alexikokopops]

For the money it costs me to get on the train to see my girlfriend I could actually fly to Prague and back and have £20 left over.

[The People's Hero]

For the money it costs me to get on the train to see my girlfriend I could actually fly to Prague and back and have £20 left over.

You need to either:

- Get your girlfriend to move to Prague.

- Get 'another' girlfriend (in Prague).

[Dr The Singh]

You need to either:

- Get your girlfriend to move to Prague.

- Get 'another' girlfriend (in Prague).

Or both!!!

[Corky]

You need to either:

- Get your girlfriend to move to Prague.

- Get 'another' girlfriend (in Prague).

Or we could have an MK Dons-style move to Prague.

Sparta Fosse sounds quite good.

[Monk]

The lack of value for money on public transport in this country stinks.

I came up to Leicester the other day from London for a hospital appointment. The train cost £65 return. Later in the day I had to get a single from Oakham back to Leicester (30 mins) and it cost £5 with a railcard. Not to mention the trains are only once per hour and finish at 9pm.

My Oyster card for my 20 minute train to work every day costs £130 a month.

If any of you have travelled on any of the airport services (Stansted Express etc) you will know what a rip off those are too.

I've always believed privatisation of such services should have been done so that the public are the beneficiaries, almost like a co operative, or with compulsary reinvestment of profit. No danger of that happening though.

I'm going to Canada in a month or so and I just booked a train ticket from Winnipeg to Churchill on the edge of the arctic circle. The line is a huge loss maker, but they keep it going for the communities who live on the line. The journey is 26 hours each way and a return cost me £150. That's not bad value. Via Rail are an independant public company, so they are funded by the government and have no shareholders. Makes sense to me

Bottom line is, that if the need to pay shareholders was not there then the price increases would not be as great.

Just another sickening example of the state of this country.

[Tommy G]

A copy of a letter I shall be sending to Arriva.

I'm pretty certain as well that bus companies use black diesel, which is exempt from duty, but my searches can't find anything to back this up at the moment. I know that they used to be exempt (I was sad enough to actually watch the Budget years ago...).

It does look like my fitness will be improving, by walking the 4-5 miles into town more often rather than lining someone else's pockets.

It's a great idea but unfortunately I can't see you getting a reply

The only alternative is to get a car.. or walk. Cars still cost a lot more to run on average than travelling by bus. Especially when you take into account the cost of the car, petrol, insurance, road tax etc.

[Floating Fox]

Privatisation was a bad thing

[Alexikokopops]

It's a great idea but unfortunately I can't see you getting a reply

The only alternative is to get a car.. or walk. Cars still cost a lot more to run on average than travelling by bus. Especially when you take into account the cost of the car, petrol, insurance, road tax etc.

That's the frustrating thing though. It's not always the case. I'm making 23 trips to Leicester over the next year, and it's about £3 cheaper to drive. It costs me about £20 less to drive to my girlfriend's house (during Uni holidays) then it does to get the train. It costs me £5 less to drive to work every day. The savings I make on those journeys alone covers my insurance and road tax costs, with over £500 to spare. And that doesn't include other things, like the 2 hours I save a day by driving to work rather than getting the train, and the general convenience of being able to leave when you like.

[Tommy G]

That's the frustrating thing though. It's not always the case. I'm making 23 trips to Leicester over the next year, and it's about £3 cheaper to drive. It costs me about £20 less to drive to my girlfriend's house (during Uni holidays) then it does to get the train. It costs me £5 less to drive to work every day. The savings I make on those journeys alone covers my insurance and road tax costs, with over £500 to spare. And that doesn't include other things, like the 2 hours I save a day by driving to work rather than getting the train, and the general convenience of being able to leave when you like.

I'd say general consensus.. though. In my case to run my car on an annual mileage of 8,000 miles (roughly) is.

Insurance: £720 annually (9p a mile)

Road Tax: £145 (1.8p a mile)

Petrol: £1,200 (15p a mile)

Depreciation (ish) £700 (9p a mile)

MOT & Service: £150 (1.7p a mile)

TOTAL: 36.5p a mile. A return journey to Leicester costs £3.60 from my village. this covers 16 miles. 16 miles in my car however would cost £5.84, and thats before you have to PAY again to park. Just an example.

That example was also taken on a small 1.4L Fiesta, the costs will be higher if you run a more powerful/gas guzzling car. Both on petrol and tax.

[Daggers]

My last journey on the bus was six months ago. I sat in a seat and gradually realised that there was a warm dampness to my arse.

Then I detected the pungent aroma.

I'd rather be stabbed in the eyes than have to catch another bus.

Ever.

[Monk]

My last journey on the bus was six months ago. I sat in a seat and gradually realised that there was a warm dampness to my arse.

Then I detected the pungent aroma.

I'd rather be stabbed in the eyes than have to catch another bus.

Ever.

You shit yourself on the bus? Can't blame you for not wanting to show your face on one again!

[James.]

You shit yourself on the bus? Can't blame you for not wanting to show your face on one again!

That's what happens when you give pensioners a bus pass.

[Daggers]

You shit yourself on the bus? Can't blame you for not wanting to show your face on one again!

That's what happens when you give pensioners a bus pass.

Shouldn't you two be sorting out the ****ing economy or something?!

[Monk]

Yes, but I still have time to exploit such inviting comments

[Katy]

That is the problem with people in this country, the apathy is astounding. This 'can't be arsed to do anything like complain because nothing will get done anyway' attitude stinks! If you don't get a reply Lease, keep sending it, that's what I do.

As for public transport, I don't think they've heard of it in this part of Lincolnshire. Unfortunately a car is a necessity round my way - sort it Gordon you useless twat!

[Babylon]

Exactly who do companies operate on behalf of?

Shareholders.

This is nothing compared to the "price rise to improve service" about a year and a half ago. It was really good, buses went from every 20 minutes to every 10 minutes, that seems ok... I don't mind paying for better services. Although two months later they changed the service back to the old timetable and left the prices as they were. Then two months after that put up prices again because of "rising costs", we've since had another two price rises. Fantastic stuff.

I now walk a mile into the city limits and catch the bus there because you pay a lot less in the city compared to county.

[Alexikokopops]

That is the problem with people in this country, the apathy is astounding. This 'can't be arsed to do anything like complain because nothing will get done anyway' attitude stinks! If you don't get a reply Lease, keep sending it, that's what I do.

As for public transport, I don't think they've heard of it in this part of Lincolnshire. Unfortunately a car is a necessity round my way - sort it Gordon you useless twat!

Public transport in Lincolnshire is the pits! Last bus at 5pm, and that was from my village that was well served by public transport (it has a train station!)

[Simi]

While we're on the subject of Public Transport, I think it's wrong that people under the age of 18 should have to pay Adult prices.

[JoeyB]

While we are on about public transport it costs me

£1.50 to get to the airport from my house which is 2 miles away!

thats 75p a feckin mile!

that is why i drive