State Subsidised Bus to the Pub

[radamfi]

As an aside, I suppose this thread strictly speaking should be in the "International Transport" section, but does it make more sense for it to be in this section? If the intention was to broaden the discussion to evening buses in the UK, which has inevitably happened, then I can certainly see the justification, and there is of course a cultural connection between Ireland and the UK. Obviously buses in other countries crops up in conversation, particularly by me.

However, people reading the International Transport section miss out unless it is cross-posted there. Arguably, some stuff written about foreign buses in International Transport could be posted here to get the British angle.

 

[RT4038]

However, the decline in evening bus services started with a bang on 27th October 1986.

I'm not sure that is right! Evening bus service patronage started declining in the mid fifties, with the increase in TV ownership, and service levels declining as a result. Granted not at the speed of the patronage reduction, as by mid 70s there was an awful lot of empty and near empty mileage being run at night. This was not evenly experienced over the whole country, with 'shire' county services suffering greater patronage reduction than purely urban operations. There was a step change in provision at de-regulation, in effect a 'one-off' adjustment to bring down mileage to match the reduction in demand over the previous 30 years or so. Government at the time clearly intended such an adjustment, as it encouraged operators to only register commercial operations. Operators responded with some glee to get rid of these troublesome evening operations: empty buses, staff not wanting to work anti-social hours, trouble and damage both inside and out.

 

[Dentonian]

I'm not sure that is right! Evening bus service patronage started declining in the mid fifties, with the increase in TV ownership, and service levels declining as a result. Granted not at the speed of the patronage reduction, as by mid 70s there was an awful lot of empty and near empty mileage being run at night. This was not evenly experienced over the whole country, with 'shire' county services suffering greater patronage reduction than purely urban operations. There was a step change in provision at de-regulation, in effect a 'one-off' adjustment to bring down mileage to match the reduction in demand over the previous 30 years or so. Government at the time clearly intended such an adjustment, as it encouraged operators to only register commercial operations. Operators responded with some glee to get rid of these troublesome evening operations: empty buses, staff not wanting to work anti-social hours, trouble and damage both inside and out.

As you say, patronage differed area by area and also by night of the week. I lived in an "overspill" estate just over 7 miles from Manchester across De-reg and on Friday & Saturday evenings, patronage was very healthy, but the service was still halved on 27 October 1986.

 

[Busaholic]

As I am an Irish Taxpayer, (and have been for the last 15 years) I do worry. And as my partners daughter has been caught up in the Cervical Cancer outrage over here, I would rather the money go to those let down by the HSE than subsidise some auld fella to go out and have a pint.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-44067118

https://extra.ie/2018/05/09/news/politics/danny-healy-rae-drink-link-bus-service

P.S. Never judge a book by its cover, (to your first remark).

Well said.

 

[Tetchytyke]

P.S. Never judge a book by its cover, (to your first remark).

Fair point!

I would rather the money go to those let down by the HSE than subsidise some auld fella to go out and have a pint.

It's not a zero sum game though.

The HSE issues certainly aren't about funding. More just incompetence.

 

[Mutant Lemming]

. And as my partners daughter has been caught up in the Cervical Cancer outrage over here, I would rather the money go to those let down by the HSE than subsidise some auld fella to go out and have a pint.
).

Surely subsidising a few buses works out cheaper than the healthcare required for victims of drink driving ? Maybe if a thorough study were done it may well be the case that subsidising later bus services saves the HSE money.