Cutbacks to PlusBus choices

[island]

80 PlusBus locations will be cancelled as of NFM12 due to underuse.

 

[scotsman]

Glad to see that none in Scotland are being cancelled, they're incredibly useful

 

[clagmonster]

In a large number of cases, the stations involved are in a larger Plus Bus zone. On that basis, would for example a long distance ticket to Acocks Green, which would currently be able to be issued with a Plus Bus, be able to be issued with a Birmingham New Street Plus Bus, which has the same validity?

 

[bb21]

In a large number of cases, the stations involved are in a larger Plus Bus zone. On that basis, would for example a long distance ticket to Acocks Green, which would currently be able to be issued with a Plus Bus, be able to be issued with a Birmingham New Street Plus Bus, which has the same validity?

I suspect this might be what was planned. A large selection on the list are in the NWM area.

 

[lyndhurst25]

Glad to see that none in Scotland are being cancelled, they're incredibly useful

Cowdenbeath?

 

[philjo]

Brookmans Park is part of the Potters Bar Bus Zone, though not that many buses go there compared to PBR!
I think Welham Green is in the Hatfield zone. So presumably you could still get the Hatfield Plus Bus add on with a train ticket to Welham Green?

 

[34D]

This is a shame

Brookmans Park is part of the Potters Bar Bus Zone, though not that many buses go there compared to PBR!
I think Welham Green is in the Hatfield zone. So presumably you could still get the Hatfield Plus Bus add on with a train ticket to Welham Green?

One would hope that staff are thus briefed....

 

[Bill Badger]

Brookmans Park is part of the Potters Bar Bus Zone, though not that many buses go there compared to PBR!
I think Welham Green is in the Hatfield zone. So presumably you could still get the Hatfield Plus Bus add on with a train ticket to Welham Green?

I don't think that's the way it works unfortunately. Ash Vale is in the Farnborough/Aldershot PlusBus Zone for example but if you buy a ticket to Ash Vale, you are not able to get PlusBus with it.

The work around is often to buy a ticket to a nearby station, which is also valid to where you actually want to go and then stop short.

 

[reb0118]

Cowdenbeath?

Cowdenbeath is in the "Kingdoom of Fife"

 

[WillPS]

Surprised to see Bulwell, Carlton and Netherfield even had one - surely the Nottingham+BUS scheme is sufficient?

I've just checked their site and it isn't even listed.

When I used one in Chorley (in 2009) both drivers (Stagecoach in each case) stated they hadn't seen one before.

Also Bordesley - one train per week, I wonder why not many of these were sold.

 

[rmt-driver]

Can you buy a Watford plusbus if travelling from London to Watford met?

 

[district]

Can you buy a Watford plusbus if travelling from London to Watford met?

Plusbuses exsist for Watford Junction, Watford High Street and Watford North.

 

[Deerfold]

Can you buy a Watford plusbus if travelling from London to Watford met?

No, the ticket has to be to Watford High Street, Watford Junction or Bushey.

http://www.plusbus.info/watford-plusbus
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Plusbuses exsist for Watford Junction, Watford High Street and Watford North.

Looks like they've already updated the Watford page to reflect the facts from May when the Watford North one will be withdrawn.

 

[radamfi]

80 PlusBus locations will be cancelled as of NFM12 due to underuse.

What harm does it do to keep underused Plusbus location in operation?

 

[MarkyMarkD]

It's scarcely surprising that Plusbus is poorly used.

It is a poorly conceived and designed scheme, and it is poorly promoted.

Design

It uses slogans like "convenience is buying your bus & train tickets together" but doesn't deliver. Convenience would be buying a through ticket, at my local bus stop, to include bus & train - can't do that.

Instead, to use Plusbus, I have to plan ahead - even for a "walk up" rail ticket - by buying both tickets online or at the station, which almost inevitably means at least a day before. I am lucky that I pass my nearest station on the way to work, but for many infrequent travellers this drawback is enough to stop them even considering Plusbus.

Promotion

It isn't obvious how to buy Plusbus tickets when buying train tickets online. Rather than selecting "from Chatham + bus" to "Somewhere else" you have to select "from Chatham" to "Somewhere else" and then at a far later stage, add on Plusbus. The fares don't appear as a consolidated total, but they are treated as two separate purchases - even though you can't buy Plusbus without the rail ticket.


I suspect that most Plusbus tickets are bought by season ticket holders - to whom the inconvenient purchase process isn't a drawback - and not by the walk-up passengers who they claim to be serving.

There are many ways to avoid the purchase inconvenience, but they simply can't be bothered. E.g. why can you not buy a "Plusbus" bus ticket on your local bus (at a price greater than or equal to the non-Plusbus day ticket price) which then gives a discount on the rail ticket?

e.g. Chatham day ticket is £5.50. Chatham Plusbus is £3.80.

If they sold a Chatham Plusbus on the bus for £5.50, it should give a £1.70 discount on any rail ticket from an eligible station on the same day. Simples.

Ends up with the passenger paying the correct combined fare, without the pre-booking hassle.

 

[WillPS]

There are many ways to avoid the purchase inconvenience, but they simply can't be bothered. E.g. why can you not buy a "Plusbus" bus ticket on your local bus (at a price greater than or equal to the non-Plusbus day ticket price) which then gives a discount on the rail ticket?

Because that would mean operators would have to sell multi-operator tickets.

 

[MarkyMarkD]

Possibly. Or that you could only travel on one bus TO the station, using a single operator day ticket, which you then exchanged for a real Plusbus ticket at the station.

Around here, most of the eligibility of Plusbus is one operator (Arriva Medway Towns) anyway, so I hadn't worried about the interavailability problem.

 

[WillPS]

Assumes again that all buses get you to the station. Norwich is an example of a city where the station is some way away from the town centre, and depending on your way in may require a change to get you there without a reasonable(ish) walk.

Once you start walking reasonable(ish) distances you're sort of in the territory of having a dog and barking yourself.

I accept it would be a nice idea to have bus operators selling a, say, £5 PlusBus ticket which can be exchanged at a station for a 'proper' PlusBus and the rest put towards the railway journey. The reality is that this would cause a 2 way flow of cash and would involve added admin for the bus operators (I believe they were sold this scheme on the grounds that they need only accept the ticket to get a cut of the revenue).

 

[LexyBoy]

Rather than leaving places out of the scheme entirely, couldn't smaller stations within a PlusBus zone use the same scheme, with guidance being issued to issue PlusBus from the main station in the area (for example Nottingham as above, or the Reading area which covers Tilehurst and Earley)?

 

[MarkyMarkD]

Assumes again that all buses get you to the station. Norwich is an example of a city where the station is some way away from the town centre, and depending on your way in may require a change to get you there without a reasonable(ish) walk.

Once you start walking reasonable(ish) distances you're sort of in the territory of having a dog and barking yourself.

I accept it would be a nice idea to have bus operators selling a, say, £5 PlusBus ticket which can be exchanged at a station for a 'proper' PlusBus and the rest put towards the railway journey. The reality is that this would cause a 2 way flow of cash and would involve added admin for the bus operators (I believe they were sold this scheme on the grounds that they need only accept the ticket to get a cut of the revenue).

I agree that the operators must be seeing some kind of admin saving as they are accepting a lower level of income than a standard day ticket (or in some cases, they don't even offer their own day ticket). But on the other hand, they should in theory at least be getting some additional passengers who wouldn't bother with the bus at all if they couldn't get Plusbus.

I have to say that I would (normally) get the bus to the station with, or without, Plusbus; I would just save more money if I could reliably use Plusbus particularly on those occasions when I don't know in advance I'll be travelling.

And I am lucky that my nearest bus route passes the station.

Incidentally, bus operators are fairly poor at getting through ticketing. In cases where the railway station isn't in the same place as the bus station, and many rail passengers need to get two buses, it is quite common that there are not through tickets between the two buses even if the operator is the same. Arriva do, however, offer a "one hour" ticket locally which ticks this box quite well, and other operators ought to copy this.