TheGrandWazoo
Veteran Member
With the extra diversion I'd say an extra bus each way might be needed and obviously that does play a part. I'm not overly familiar with the prices for the X1 tbh for singles but say people were to buy network all days it would take 6 an hour to break that £35 an hour figure you mentioned before. Will be easier to work out when they reveal what the special prices will be for it
Again, your thinking is flawed. Here's perhaps a more realistic way of looking at it Note: these are indicative figures as only First will actually know. Do not interpret as fact but just to show the way in which the figures might be used.
Monthly ticket holders are currently paying £3.16 per day for a return journey. Concessionary pass holders are probably attracting a similar revenue for a round trip. If you're lucky, very lucky, those people who pay full return fare might drag the figure per passenger up to £3.75 or £4.00 per journey? Let's be bold and assume £4 - makes the maths easier.
So if you have four vehicles that have to make £450 per day, then you need to make £1800 with your four buses. That means you have to attract 450 passengers per day. Doesn't seem a lot if you've got perhaps three full deckers in a morning (225 passengers). That means you then have to attract another 225 return passengers across the day. You'll get some in the morning out of Hamilton but not many after lunch.
THAT IS THE PROBLEM. You have a massive imbalance in ridership. It is weighted toward Glasgow in the morning but no return flows - the timetable backs that up. Then you have the morning commuters enjoying a relatively cheap journey for the mileage incurred, and off peak ridership dominated by concessions.
Now if they suddenly come up with a pricing formula that manages to counteract those issues, then great. No-one is saying that the X1 doesn't have loyal passengers; it just hasn't enough of them paying enough money. Remember these three things:
- Note; buses are a business. They have to cover their costs and then some profit.
- Anything that adds costs (like an extra bus, or new buses, or an investment in marketing, dancing girls, etc) then needs more passengers to pay for it.
- If you cut fares, then you need more passengers to make the same money.