Time to map out a plan for Villa's future
- Says blogger Matthew Turvey
Huge rise in bus fares
Wednesday 17th December 2008, 11:43AM GMT.
Bus fares in the West Midlands are set to soar by over 10 per cent – more than twice the rate of inflation.
The normal adult single charge will rise by 20p to £1.70, while the short hop ticket will cost 10p more at £1.20p.
Fares on the Metro will increase by an average 6.5 per cent. An adult day tripper goes up 20p to £4.20p, while a return from Wolverhampton to Birmingham shoots up by 30p to £4.50p. Weekly travel cards will also become more expensive. The rises by National Express come into force on January 2.
They blame the move on “rising operating costs including utilities and staffing costs.”
The only good news is that all fares paid by direct debit will be frozen until 2010 and the price of the £3 Daysaver ticket will remain unchanged for 12 months when bought in prepaid booklets of five at travel shops or via the call centre.
That ticket will cost £3.30 if purchased on a bus.
National Express insisted that only one in four passengers paid cash for bus rides while the rest bought tickets in advance.
Neil Barker, bus and coach director for National Express UK, said: “ We are encouraging customers to purchase their fares in advance to secure the best value for money.
“Setting up a direct debit or pre-paying for Daysavers not only provides the best savings but also helps reduce queues and delays at the bus stops. The January changes mean we can continue investing in a better bus service for the future.”
Some bus and rail tickets went up by 10 per cent last year – almost five times the rate of inflation, it was revealed today.
Anthony Smith, chief executive of Passenger Focus, said at the time: “These unjustified and unfair rises will rankle.” He urged passengers to complain “loud and clear” to travel companies.
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Higher prices – poorer service
Do they ever clean the bus’s?
Would be nice to have heating as well!
Even the bus drivers say the service from the company is poor.
I’m going back to a car
CLEANER, SAFER, WARMER, CHEAPER
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I wish my bus fares were only £1.20 for a short hop. My cheapest fare is £1.90 just for 5 stops and the daysavers are £5.50
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Now i am pretty sure the price of diesel has gone down?
Also be nice to have a bus that turned up when it was ment to
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I thank fully only have to catch a bus occasionally and when I do it’s not a great experience. The buses are dirty, the seats if it has been raining are wet, they leak, and they smell, rarely run on time and know they have the nerve to put prices up again.
They say they are trying to get people out of using cars I don’t think so.
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They try to encourage us to leave our cars at home. Yeah right-It keeps getting cheaper and cheaper to use your car instead of public transport. Shame really for the environment because no one really cares do they. It’s all about how much money is being made!
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£6.80 for a 3 mile return trip for 2 people to Walsall town centre. Brilliant.
No incentive at all for leaving my car at home.
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You’ll never get me out of my car; I don’t want to sit on a bus next to someone eating food or smelling of b.o, listening to other people’s music
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Ok Torquay Man . . . . If I remember right, you made comments about ‘Greedy Car Owners making unneccesary journeys’ and ‘Too many cars on the road’ when comments were being made about the M6 Toll! Quite a contradiction I would say !
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I have always supported public transport but now I can’t blame people for using their cars. Who wants to sit on filthy bus with greasy McDonalds wrappers everywhere with chavs and gangsters smoking spliffs and playing loud music. The bus drivers box themselves in and leave the public to face anti-social behaviour simply shrugging their shoulders or saying ‘what you want me do about?’
I’ve seen full scale gang fights upstairs on the No.51, and no, the bus was not stopped and the police were not called.
Also why does it cost the same to travel from Wednesfield into Wolverhampton as it does to go all the way to Birmingham? Is it just so the bus drivers don’t need to check tickets? If the Government want to stop us using cars for short journeys then staggered bus fares would surely be logical.
I feel slightly better after that rant.
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Higher Price for what, the worst bus service ever, come on if they stop spending money on new shelters that kids/chavs break, just put a post there, get rid of the information that says the bus is coming when it clearly isn’t then i think were on the right track, no wonder people drive, the bus companys are driving us to drive our car’s :) i’e buy a car old banger 4 £150,TAX insurance and works out cheaper than bus alrealdy. O AND GET RID OF BUS LANES
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how the hell is it fair that daysavers cost an extra 30p because your buying them on the actual bus!! I bet thats were about 90% of people buy them!! Robbing buggers!
Each year its the same old story, extra 10p here, 20p there. Only time I use the bus is when there is no other option, there disgusting and could do with a clean a little bit more frequently than the every couple of years or so that they appear to!!!
And this is the way to tempt us to leave our cars at home, nice try NOT!
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Most people would have to catch a bus to somewhere were there is a travel shop before they can get one, got us by the old short and currlies!!
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I actually caught a bus into town today after dropping my car off to be repaired. I got on half way along Newhampton Road and nearly fell over when the driver told me it was £1.50 to get to town from there. With prices like that, I would actually be cheaper for me to drive to work every day and pay for parking. So much for the Governments idea of getting us to use more public transport.
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£1.20 for a short hop!! When I’ve been on the bus before some bus drivers have said a short hop is three stops..have you seen how far the bus stops are between eachother, you could walk faster. I know a lot of people who will be choosing there car over the bus with these prices, well they do anyway actually the state the buses are in anyway! Riducolous!
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Have the managers at National Express lost touch with reality? The price of fuel has gone down, people are losing their jobs left, right and centre. So what do decide to do – put fares up way above inflation and in certain areas cut the services altogether. Lets be honest, the only people that they are concerned about are the shareholders. Its not like they’re not making any profit is it? Raising the fares is an underhand way of getting the passengers to cover the cost of the expensive and frankly pointless “rebranding” of TWM to NXWM earlier this year.
As for encouraging people to pay by direct debit because it’s cheaper, it’s merely a means of getting the money out of people’s pockets before they receive a rubbish service.
Neil Barker is right, it will help to reduce queues at bus stops – only because people will stop going by (NXWM) bus.
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As usual working non-drivers are being hit by this increase and then to suffer the chaos of the bus journey. I’ve been on buses which are filthy, cold, wet, stinking of fastfood and god knows what else. I was so incensed this morning that some rude passengers had their bags all over the seats that I lowered myself to their low level and sat on a girls bag until she got the hint and moved over to let me sit down.
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I do think the prices for the West MIdlands are ridiculas as First North West which govern Chester City transport are cheaper and offer a “Return” Ticket at a cheaper cost than what West Mids offer a single.
TWM: Revise your prices as you arent going to get people travelling on your buses.
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i work for nx our buses are cleaned everyday
passengers leave the rubbish not the drivers
but i must admit the fare rise sucks
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my partner and i reguarly visit the usa and we always make a point of using public transport and we always find it clean, on time and really good value for money (a seven day unlimited travel pass using bus, train, tram and cable car in san francisco was $25 per person) where as in this country it is touch and go whether the buses turn up, most of the time the buses are dirty, the same can be said for the trains and trams.
get the service running on time and make it a pleasant enviroment to travel on and then think about increasing prices.
typical of travel companies in this country…rip you off for a sub-standard service and then cut services on certain routes and what the hell is going on with these a-z bus services????? the buses are 20 years out of date and a total pigsty on wheels!!!
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I use the bus a lot. Far cheaper than taking the car to town or work, even without figuring car parking into the cost.
How much has the price gone up over the past few years? Seems like the increase has been only a bit.
I’ll continue to use the bus – seems like these problems others have simply don’t occur on any of my bus journies. Perhaps they aren’t common?
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They never learn do they? Or perhaps they do and its us that is thick!!!!!
The government keep telling us to use public transport more, in fact Gordon Brown actually justified raising fuel tax, to force more people to get out of their cars and use public transport, remember the mantra that it was the motorist that was causing global warming so the cost of fuel had to be raised to such a lever they would stop driving their cars.
All of a sudden the country stopped because people couldn’t afford the fuel for essential journeys, because the country stopped and no one was buying the overpriced fuel, the fuel companies suddenly realised their cash cow wasn’t there anymore and prices dropped.
Because the fuel prices have dropped, Gordon’s slush fund has suffered, so allowing the increased charges for public transport, means that transport companies pay more tax, and Gordon gains again.
Notice guys, since the price of fuel has dropped Gordon hasn’t mentioned global warming, so according to that, before when he was intent on raising fuel prices because of global warming, now when the fuel process have dropped that same problem has disappeared.
He is such a wonderful man, He truly has saved the world!!!!!!!!
Jim of Bearwood
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Great. This makes me want to pass my driving test even more. Rip off.
Buses are disgusting, i was on the 394 on saturday and actually watched the river of water sloshing back and forth down the floor every time the brakes were applied.
They smell, and I fear for my life every time I have to try and walk to the front to get off.
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Please tell me WMT, why I should pay an extortionate amount of my highly taxed meagre income to risk my life, health and possessions to use your service.
I question the sanity of choosing to stand and wait for a bus to randomly arrive, whereupon I have the option of standing next to a rude, intimidating nutter, clearly out on licence for care in, or service to the community, or to sit on a urine stained seat, dubiously attached to the floor. To be driven in a manner charitably described as arcade style, swerving, stopping on it’s nose and often down the middle of the road by a driver who subsequently misses the stops and does not speak English.
The inevitable fight breaks out on board, terrifying those of us unable to translate, and who are not carrying street weapons.
I think I’ll stick to my car, while the government still allows such liberty.
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Come on enjoy the comfort of your car. At least your not ripping yourself off by using it. Your cars always on time when you want to use it. Its more reliable and hopefully cleaner. You don’t have to put up with crowds in your car-only conjestion and afterall busses still have to suffer that. Your car is actually better for the environment with unleaded fuel. People using buses are fouling up the atmosphere a lot worse than car owners, as diesel is far dirtier and more polluting than petrol. Enjoy your cars people-petrol prices are lower and bus fairs are higher.
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Yet again those of us who actually pay for our tickets are subsidising those that don’t. Bus drivers should check people’s tickets more carefully to stop people constantly using out of date ones.
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Same old story. Struggling to make a profit so put up the prices. Easy isn’t it. No competition, captive customers, and fuel prices have dropped drastically.
If the people running these organisations had a brain between them they would REDUCE prices to encourage MORE passengers. Bit like the shops do when they have a sale…..
Whilst I’m at it who does BATEMEN represent?
Us or the bus companies? Get rid of him as well
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RIPOFF BRITAIN,I LIVE IN TELFORD NOW THE BUSES THERE ARE JUST AS DEAR AS THE MIDLAND BUS SERVICE,I WALKED TO TELFORD CENTRE AND WENT TO GET THE BUS BACK ONLY 2 MILES FROM MY HOUSE ONE POUND SIXTY,SO I HAD A LOVELY WALK ALONG SILKIN WAY,IF PEOPLE STAYED OFF THE BUSES THEY JUST MIGHT RETHINK THERE RIPOFF PRICES.
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Great pay more money to stand up on the 74 from West brom to Great bridge. cos for the life of me i cant remember when i last got on a bus that wasn’t packed, or breaking the sound barrier… its a bus not a rally car idiots.
Someone said how much has the price gone up in the last few years.. listen up ar kid, it used to go up in 5p and 10p increments, then 20p. its still the same crap service.. stuff the whole lot of em, stop using buses, id rather be dragged behind a horse and trap on the local park`s football pitches. gimme a 7.5 litre car with a turbo, at least you get your moneys worth. bunch of sodding pirates and profiteering ratbags.
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I thought fuel prices were spiralling DOWN.
I think what is really happening is that the West Midlands has got itself already into a low-density/too-late-off the mark spiral where it will never have a public transport system up to that of rival European cities.
The West Midlands will pay for this when fuel starts to run out.
The other bad news is that we are also due to have a whopping fare rise in Greater Paris.But next July.French formers of public opinion know too well that the medecine goes down oh so much better during the long summer holidays(of those who can still afford them most of whom can also afford cars to get away from the city at weekends).
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Scandalous! Another price rise!! What exactly do we get for this increase?? The service is not improving, rather it’s going downhill! I think it’s worth noting that one of they major overheads – the cost of fuel is actually starting to fall. I agree, if they had any sense, they’d lower their fares to get more customers. At £1.70 for a single, together with all the waiting around and inconvenience of using buses, I’m inclined to pay the little extra and travel in the comfort of a taxi! If more than one person, the taxi may even turn out to be cheaper!
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I use a bicycle because I am no longer prepared to put up with the cost, mess, inconvenience and the risk to my personal safety in using bus services. I don’t want to use a bicycle but it really is the lesser of two evils for me. And as soon as I have the money I am moving out of this area; Bateman can keep his bus service – you will not get me returning he because transport is a joke. I am truly ashamed of where I live and it’s because of reasons like this and yes, I have tried my best to change it but you are wasting your time. There isn’t even going to be a Metro extension – you’re a joke, West Midlands, a complete waste of time.
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I think Martin Davies (no 20) lives in Cloud Cuckoo Land
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Never miss a trick do they!!!! And its that very reason I rarely use TWM, it wouldn’t be so bad if they actually used the money for newer, cleaner and effiecent buses.. Anyone who catches there bueses in the Walsall area will no what I mean, they often stink of mold, they’re cold and dindgy… Ariva on the other hand keep there buses spotless the drivers are pleasent…. Before hiking the prices, I’d suggest TWM got back to basics and put the passenger first!!!
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Travelling in/across the Midlands is a total nightmare and putting the price Up is not going to solve anything.
For an area that has Cities, the comfort and availabilty of travel is at best
RIDICULOUS.
Too many fares,zones, operators and no consideration to travellers what a POOR Service that is on offer.
Have one flat fare and be gone with all the ridiculous variety of fares. Children travel free till they are eleven and more people will use the service.
It works in London where I now reside and you are actually more expensive than London. What a stupid transport system!!!
Rebel and FIGHT for a FAIR SYSTEM.
Bilston girl in London
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Every time I have used the bus the ticket has been looked at, sick of people moaning about the mess on the bus, who put’s it there Joe Bloggs the public, if a person Honks tell him or her, don’t leave it to the driver, they have no back up like nurses and other public sector services. Admit a lot of drivers do not speak English even known one of them to Honk !!! but I did tell him to get a deoderant and got off the bus. No good sitting moaning like sheep do something about it, if the bus is a mess phone the company, don’t abuse the driver he may not be able to get out and pick all the rubbish up and get his broom out whilst driving trying to keep the bus on time….. non of like the increase nor should it happen so don’t use it, walk…… especially when it’s only a few stops. Once again lifes too short for all this moaning…..
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Dear oh dear. At a time of recession and falling fuel prices they decide to increase fares, where is the sense in that? Plus it does nothing for trying to encourage people to use public transport. Looks like the car again!!
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well i,m a brit living in canada,but still like to know whats going on in my old country. it seems we all have the very same problems.our gas raised the fares raised.and we even have snow to contend with. but i do agree with my fellow brits i find people almost knock you over to get the vacant seat in fact the person leaving has a hard time to vacate the seat.people eat and drink on thebuses trains and metro here to.
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PLEASE NOTE I DID NOT WRITE THE EARLIER COMMENT OR SOME OTHER COMMENTS WHICH HAVE APPEARED UNDER MY NAME LAST FEW DAYS…I AM CURRENTLY FINDING OUT WHO IS USING MY NAME BEFORE TAKING ACTION
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And retailers are complaining about low sales-people cant afford to get to the shops to buy anything at this rate-no wonder online shopping is taking over!
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Mr Bateman does not work for the bus company any more and was voted off Wolverhampton Council earlier this year. I think that Codsallman is out of date with his comment. Perhaps the internet is slow over there and he meant to post last year when Mr Bateman was still in both jobs.
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Walk to and wait at bus stop for often late bus, greeted my miserable driver, stumble along bus as it sets off before you get seated, poor quality of driving, filthy interior, two adults into town £3.40. Taxi on demend from door to door £3.30. Guess which we’ll be using.
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I have to catch two buses and a metro everyday its not a good thing they are changing because itsa not they are special the buses are always dirty no cleaniness whatsoever and sometimes they dont even turn up on time! which causes alot of problems getting home ontime especially in this cold weather. Yes i totaly agree with colin the buses do set off before the passengers are even seated doesnt matter if they are old or young!!!!!!! Travel West Midlands dont seem to care or be bothered of the quality they are producing to the customers.
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well here we go again another price rise maybe they should charge 20p for penshinors intead of chargeing us so much
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If all bus users decided to start using a car for their journeys, this would lead to another 1 million car trips every day in the West Midlands! Result – gridlock. So maybe the smug car drivers on here should be thankful to all those public transport users out there who are doing their bit for the environment and keeping traffic moving at the same time!
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Although i’m disgusted with the fare increase as im a regular bus user going to and from work, TWM seems to be getting a bit of unfair stick here.
There tickets are still cheaper than many other bus services across the country. Generally speaking they are reliable and the vast majority of buses are reasonably clean and tidy considering how much use they get. I will admit it would be nice to have some slightly friendlier bus drivers, and some who speak english as well! But for the time being i’m not going to complain too much.
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Been driving nearly 10yrs only caught bus once in all that time,dirty smelly & cold driven by drlvers who think the laws of the road donot apply to them, mind you never see them cut up an artic do you? neather do they use the expensive to provlde bus lanes..
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National Express cuts 700 jobs, gets the benefit of the diesel price plummeting, then raises fares 10%. Utter joke. Its the highups at National Express who should lose their jobs.
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Well said Dan, nice to hear something positive, we would all like to have more english speaking drivers I agree and as to them being friendly how many ‘passengers’ get on the bus and actually say ‘good morning’ or ‘thankyou’ if we all tried this then perhaps the bus driver would respond but as he is constantly running late, due to traffic, under the threat of the company being fined for running late and grumpy passengers he seldom has a lot to smile about, depends o which company they work for as to whether they get time to have a break as their turn around 5 min is classed as partr of the break, but if you are running late as you will be AFTER TWO RUNS, he or she will not get a break, so think on before we slag the drivers off, for the pay they get I think they do a fantastic service as and when possible, especially when they are very likely hungry smelling food being eaten on the bus does not help one bit, should not really be allowed, I was very upset on one trip with suitcase going to Dudley mothers gives young child in buggy a sausage roll to eat, most of it was thrown on my case, when I actually pointed it out to young mum he reply was not nice, but I picked it up and put it in her lap, she was then not too happy, if people will abuse the service do something about it don’t moan about it, yes we could do without the rise in fares along with all the other rises we are having to encounter, but do we do anything about it,NO we just moan, so until as a nation we pull together and try and get things right just try and make it a little better for everyone. Try using the train for a while and then you will really have something to moan at, another one does not come along in 10 min……….
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£1.70 for an adult ticket? As recent as 2004 it cost just £1.00. Travel West Midlands are shooting themselves in the foot, as you don’t have to be a genious to work out that when prices go up, sales go down. The midlands knows first hand about the consequences of a business’s falling sales – MG Rover anyone? Maybe it’s time for the government to nationalise or at least provide funding to the bus operators. These private firms cannot continue exploiting passengers with such inflated prices.
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well what can i say….i agee with all the comments… but some bus drivers don,t acknowledge you when paying for tickets, they don,t some don,t drive buses correctly they drive off before you sit down ,,they don,t stop when you ring the bell and some cannot speak english…..well its not there fault ..blame the management..thats where money should be spent..
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Funny really, I catch the bus every morning. Quite a new bus as well, but upgrading the entire fleet will take time.
I know most of the drivers by sight that drive my regular bus. Friendly, occasionally smiling and get the bus where its going even if traffic causes delays.
Judging by the miserable comments on here, I have to wonder if some of the drivers these people have had contact with have simply responded in kind to how they are treated.
I’ll continue to use the bus for getting back and forth to work. Its safe, gets me close to where I’m going and its someone else’s bother to drive.
I get to travel stress free, listening to something I can concentrate on.
And still cheaper than using the car.
With a 4-weekly bus pass, I get to travel for currently £1.48 a day. Thats in total, not per journey.
The increase doesn’t even come close to making me want to take the car.
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48, I very much agreed with your comments. I live in Singapore and yes i am a bus driver too. For 20 years. Why? Well, for a starters it’s a reccesion proof job. No worries about losing your job during economics uncertainties because it’s a neccesity.
Apart from your comments about rude commuters,eating passengers and unruly behaviours its apparent its the same here just that the unruly ones can be contained.
Bus fare prices here are relatively cheap but public still complains. We have the MRT(Tubes on our side) which are part of a transport modal.
The Govt here has done a lot to improve bus services here and as such,more and more public takes the buses and trains to work.
Best of all, its convienient and fasts as buses are given top priority on lanes where the places are congested to ease a smooth flow on buses journeys.
Like you say,if everyone plays their part to make the world a better place to live in.it will be a perfect journey to thse who takes the public transport.
The only thing is we do not know when will this world be a perfect place to live in.
Check this link wwww.ptc.com.sg
Cheers!
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Seems a bit steep considering fuel (which must be the biggest single expense) has come down about 30p a litre in the last few months.
I don’t remember the bus drivers getting a huge pay increase either so where are they getting the figures for this price rise?
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£1.60 for to get me from Netherton to Dudley Town Centre???? vs. the £6.60 24hr off-peak travel card for the whole of London????
Glad I’ve moved to London…
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53, I can’t recall seeing any increase in fares when fuel shot up either.
However, I also don’t recall seeing that the local bus companies are non-profit making organisations.
You don’t like the price increase, you don’t catch the bus. Plenty of others will.
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As a student i rely on the bus for journeys when i am home from university as i used to find it the cheapest way of travel! I can remember when i started college, 4 years ago, an adult ticket was £1.05, surely such a rise in price in just 4 years is unnecessary. its not as if the services have got any better? if anything they have got worse! In Aberystwyth the bus is always on time, and a return journey to Swansea (8 hours in total) cost me just 5 pounds! Sort it out!!
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Plenty of people don’t have cars,but i think you’ll find most people with cars won’t catch a bus. Why pay for both?
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When you have got a family of 2 adults and 3 children it becomes an almighty amount of money to be paying bus fare. Especially when a 2 step bus turns up and you can’t get on it with your pushchair (or twin buggy) V.A.T has lowered and fuel prices have lowered. So the fair prices should be a little more fair. Also how much money are the bus companies making on advertising revenue???? The buses are always tatty, and most the drivers dont even know how to drive properly…… putting all there passenges in danger because they are late or something……
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No 54 it could be free to travel in London and i’d still stay in the west mids. I’ve driven london on many occasions-what a hole.
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Martin Davies, I agree with you totally.
“You don’t like the price increase, you don’t catch the bus. Plenty of others will” see people you don’t have to waste money on bus fares to get to work!!!!!!
Just out of interest Martin, how did you do that trick of walking on water??????
Jim of Bearwood
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Don’t know how I stumbled on this article, but anyway though I would put my two penny worth in. I’m a bus driver in Manchester and beleive me you do have very cheap fares in the Midlands, you also have a brilliant fare collection method compared to Manchester. The fares here are much dearer. You would be able to go just under 2 and a half miles for your £1.70 with our fares going even higher to 1.80, 2.20 and 2.60 and First bus fares carry on up to over £4. You could go all the way from Birmingham to Coventry for £1.70 so why do you think it is expensive? In London all bus fares are £2 even for children if they do not have an Oyster card. As for dirty buses, who makes them dirty? Not the company and not the driver. Why should he clear up somebady elses mess? I don’t . We don’t have cleaning facilities and how do we wash our hands after? As someone mentioned maybe the drivers are treating the passengers in the same way they are being treated. I do. No acknowledment and I don’t respond or even look back. What goes around comes around. You would be delayed even further on our buses as we have to give change and the passengers take the **** with £20 notes for small fares, even when they have the correct fare. They do because I won’t take £20 notes sopsengers has to leave the bus to obtain change then suddenly the correct fare comes out ! We also have to issue all the weekly tickets and walk around with a bag of cash of anything up to £1000 on monday mornings. Any shortages come from our wages, even if the cash is stolen.
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Jim, people can get to work how they want. Seems like several posters on here will use methods other than the bus.
Me, I’ll continue to use the bus. Cost-effective for me even though I do own a car.
Walking on water is easy if you use the stepping stones provided.
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I’ll be walking from now on :)
will save me over £30 pounds a month – thats going towards my driving lessons! Thanks!!
And as for the drivers; some of them are lovely. It’s the ones smoking fags and spliffs so all the smoke blows back in your face and the ones putting every ones lives on the line while yacking into their mobiles that get my back up.
Cheers
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National express get petrol at very cheap price without tax and duty.
Buses never turn up on time and they dont bother to improve it.
Only thing they bother to get more money out of traveller’s pocket.
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