Among the “today I can announce” sound bites at last September’s Conservative Party Conference was Grant Shapps gifting £23.5 million over four years to Cornwall Council to reduce bus fares across the county in the hope of boosting passenger numbers.
At that time a spokeswoman for the unitary authority said “the details were still being worked out but the scheme would be launched in May next year (ie May 2020) and could include a zonal charging system”.
Just in the nick of time this Sunday, 31st May, Phase 1 of what’s become known as “The Cornwall Bus Fares Pilot” gets underway; but in a peculiar twist, instead of reduced fares, it involves completely free bus travel across the county lasting three months until 31st August. Phase 2 with reduced fares will follow on in September which begs the question why on earth introduce free bus fares now, especially at a time when all but essential bus travel is being discouraged, and capacity is severely limited? It defies all logic.
Details of the Scheme were sent out to bus operators only last Friday morning, with a deadline of 5pm tomorrow afternoon, Tuesday, to confirm whether they’ll be participating or not. It’s somewhat concerning so little time over a Bank Holiday weekend is being given for such an important and far reaching decision and then just three days left this week for implementation. And all this at a time when bus companies are struggling to get updated enhanced timetables and schedules organised for lockdown easing with an expected increase in passengers from next weekend.
But it gets even more concerning when you delve into the logic of why free travel is being offered in the first place. Cornwall Council say the scheme,“to kick-start bus travel across the county” as part of a “Transport Recovery Plan” has the short term objective “to restart public transport and offer a service to those people without access to an alternative mode of travel but to do so in compliance with Government guidance for reducing boarding and journey times, limiting contact with the driver and adhering to social distancing seating”.
I’m not sure I get how free travel reduces journey times, but I guess the assumption on reduced boarding times arises because passengers will just be waved on board with no need for driver interaction, ticket issuing etc. Except, no, in the barmy world of free Cornish bus travel, bus operators have to keep a record of “shadow fares” and crucially “passengers should clearly state the destination they want and ticket type. The relevant ticket needs to be printed or mTicket to be utilised”.
So if I’ve got this right passengers will still be expected on boarding the bus to ask for a single ticket to a destination, or maybe a return ticket, or even a weekly ticket, and the driver will issue an appropriate ticket with a zero value (with the ticket machine recording the originally priced ‘shadow’ fare for reimbursement). The passenger keeps their ticket, if a return or a weekly, and shows it on further journeys, even though all travel is free. I understand passengers are even expected to download a zero value weekly mTicket on their phones if they choose that option! This is completely bonkers. Far from speeding up boarding times and reducing interactions with drivers I can see this creating confusion, delays and complex interactions.
How on earth is all this going to be communicated, bearing in mind it starts at the end of the week and bus companies haven’t even agreed to take part yet?. Cornwall Council reckon “messaging must focus on the fact that the services are for Cornish residents who have no alternative but to use public transport to complete their essential journeys, with focus on the positives of reduced travel and interaction time”.
Unbelievably the guidelines continue “no messaging to the public should advertise this provision as an encouragement to get people back on buses”.
This is going to be tortuous; how to let passengers know buses are now free to use, but hey folks, you’re not being encouraged to use them …. and that’s why we’ve swept away fares. This is set to beat “Stay Alert” as a communications fiasco.