The sunday service 31 used to go the 5 route . People are likely to use train from Mount Florida. More freqent and cheaper.
Yeah and this is the thing with pricing all over Glasgow. If you want people on buses then they need to be cheaper
The sunday service 31 used to go the 5 route . People are likely to use train from Mount Florida. More freqent and cheaper.
This is why I think to limit the damage from the current situation a ton of consultation needs to be done from all operators and politicians. You'll probably find out answers on where people want to go pretty quickly if you ask them. If Philipshill was used to link the 31 to the 6 for the city centre link the cut would probably have gone down so much better plus then there's a link for Castlemilk/Carmunnock passengers to get into East Kilbride too. I do think Stewartfield/Kirktonholme does need something though from First
I'm sure if it wasn't this simple then there wouldn't be an annual fare rise!If you want people on buses then they need to be cheaper
Yeah and this is the thing with pricing all over Glasgow. If you want people on buses then they need to be cheaper
The people of Stewartfield and rest of route in East Kilbride want the link to the City Centre. Diverting a 395 or 205 or M1 will carry fresh air apart from some elderly going to East Kilbride.
All 3 of them tend to be quite quiet from what I've seen as it is as well. M1 I've not seen as much of but when I have seen it you're lucky if there's many onboard. Used the 395 once and it was pretty empty after Greenhills and I've used the 205 a few times and it's been busier outside of EK considering the 201 is the quicker option to Burnbank/Hamilton
I think the 205 only survives in EK because of the hospital link.
Exactly, and if you halved fares, would you double revenues? Would costs increase and by how much? Saying to lower fares and how you do it without cutting your own throat are two very different thingsI'm sure if it wasn't this simple then there wouldn't be an annual fare rise!
Increasing single fares and trying to keep multi-use tickets as low as possible is probably the best bet re fares. It means you still get more off of the "odd traveller" and more concessionary reimbursement, meanwhile the more regular/loyal customers get the best deal.
Do operators not up single cash fares due to account for low government rebates for concessions?
That said I agree buses now struggle with fare costs. I've heard 'we may as well take an uber' and it's true when you have more than yourself.
It's why night buses compared to when I used them fell away a fair bit. It was handy for me because the N2 was literally 20 mins but if there's a group of people say even 3 or 4 a taxi could easily be cheaper. I do feel for bus companies as low rebates aren't great but if that's your sole strategy then the service you offer needs to be top class and a lot of people don't think First are great at all. I think if we had a company with far less operations than First then bus use would generally be higher because there's less to focus on. A big problem is the imbalance between the best buses in operation and the worst. It's pretty easy to figure out how well a bus does by the vehicles on the route. There are some trend breakers like the 7 for example though
"a lot of people don't think First are great at all"
It's easy to get in that mind set however thinks their service is the worst and everyone thinks it's too expensive, when most of the time that isn't the case, using the bus is still generally cheaper than buying and owning a car, buying a car is an important point as many people ignore that and only compare the running costs.
"I think if we had a company with far less operations than First then bus use would generally be higher because there's less to focus on."
Not true. Each division has it's own local management, FirstGroup "higher management" have next to no involvement over routes, fares, vehicle allocations etc.
"a lot of people don't think First are great at all"
It's easy to get in that mind set however thinks their service is the worst and everyone thinks it's too expensive, when most of the time that isn't the case, using the bus is still generally cheaper than buying and owning a car, buying a car is an important point as many people ignore that and only compare the running costs.
"I think if we had a company with far less operations than First then bus use would generally be higher because there's less to focus on."
Not true. Each division has it's own local management, FirstGroup "higher management" have next to no involvement over routes, fares, vehicle allocations etc.
Increasing single fares and trying to keep multi-use tickets as low as possible is probably the best bet re fares. It means you still get more off of the "odd traveller" and more concessionary reimbursement, meanwhile the more regular/loyal customers get the best deal.
People do think First are terrible though and it is pretty common. A lot of people are stuck using them because they don't have any other option.That's not healthy. Nobody can deny that.
The key with a car though is that things like insurance get cheaper each year If you shop around and if you're pretty lucky you don't need to fork out loads on repairs. Also a car has a sell-on value if you want rid of it.
If there's less to focus on think of it from an investment point of view especially. The main thing that lead to a great deal of investment in Glasgow was the LEZ plans. Less operations would have opened up the funding for consistent improvement of the buses operating as regular investment could be made.
Spotted this on Facebook from around just over a week ago. Not seen anything more recent but it's interesting to see that the X1 might come back. I'm not 100% expecting it back but I wasn't expecting the 208 back either way
Sounds like most sensible businesses!Sounds like McGills
Sounds like McGills
But then the folks who can't afford to pay for a Weekly/Monthly etc ticket upfront and have no choice but to use singles are shafted with paying extortionate single fares.
Multi-use day tickets are also usually competitively priced. Like I said, most businesses will generally offer their best value to customers the more they make use of their goods/services. Bus companies are little different in that respect.But then the folks who can't afford to pay for a Weekly/Monthly etc ticket upfront and have no choice but to use singles are shafted with paying extortionate single fares.
So it’s okay for rail fares to be priced to ‘penalise’ those buying singles, but not okay for bus fares?Which is part of why I made my initial point. Getting rid of the returns didn't help either. They were somewhat reasonable. With how little difference there is between singles and returns on trains off peak there's no chance people would willingly use a bus when they have a train option too even if they'd then need to walk a bit
So it’s okay for rail fares to be priced to ‘penalise’ those buying singles, but not okay for bus fares?
The thing about buying a car is the high intial cost. Insurance , finance or outright. Amazes people , young people buying these cars , must be on finance.
Id love to buy a car but dont have the cash.
Multi-use day tickets are also usually competitively priced. Like I said, most businesses will generally offer their best value to customers the more they make use of their goods/services. Bus companies are little different in that respect.
Did you actually read my post? I said that not everyone can afford to pay £17 odd upfront for a weekly ticket and instead have to rely on buying single fares. If those single fares become too expensive like they have in Glasgow then what are they supposed to do?
Where did I say that? Nobody should be penalised for using public transport
If there is little difference between singles and returns, is that not penalising those buying singles?With how little difference there is between singles and returns on trains off peak