Reimbursement of all the Scottish concessionary schemes is based upon the adult single fare for the journey taken, so the destination is used to ensure that the correct level of reimbursement is paid to the operator. It’s only where a flat fare system is in use that a destination is not required. I believe Lothian within their Edinburgh city zone is the only place where that exists.
How would it work on services that end in a loop? Our local service even changes number (from 90 to 90a) part-way through the loop, but through fares apply.
Ticket machines should be set up to the end of the loop, so that a through fare is possible
London has oyster machines at every tube station so that tourists can buy cards for their teenage children who likely dont have debit cards but still have to pay. Its a bit harder to set up something like this in say, someone staying in their parents house in suffolk for a week.
This particular issue will certainly be ‘interesting’ if & when we do see an end to capped fares; I see it frequently and drivers just shrug and reassure anyone who questions it that they’ll only be charged £2 anyway. There’ll be quite a need for retraining if staged fares return to avoid the afore mentioned issue of everyone being charged the wrong, maximum fare!
Surely it doesn't matter at what point in the loop the route changes from one trip to the next, someone is going to be affected. Setting at the end means passengers getting off won't be charges 2 fares, but for those getting on at the start it will look as if they've made two trips.
)). I usually have to remind the driver that I am to save 20p!1. I’ve heard it suggested that in some instances drivers have been instructed/encouraged to issue plenty of tickets for longer journeys regardlesss of the actual distance being travelled, presumably as this increases the amount that is then claimed back against the £2 fare scheme? Assuming that is how it works, I wonder if we might one day see prosecutions of the like that have happened over concessionary fare fraud? I reiterate that this is only something I have heard third hand!I've had a read through this thread and I'd like to report my observations.
1. Drivers rarely bother to set the fare stage, and just leave it set to the terminus. A short hop from say Barnsley to Birdwell on the X17 on a Sunday, you get a ticket for £2 valid to Wirksworth some 54km away as the crow flies! (unless you're like me and have actually done the full journey for a laugh
5. I notice that on Stagecoach services in Sheffield, passengers getting on sometimes present their phone to the ticket machine and expect it to be 'tap on' like First and (I think) TM Travel. They usually shoot the driver a blank expression wondering why the machine hadn't reacted; which I admit is rather funny.
(Once I witnessed a passenger get off a First 24 service and run up to the bus I was on (Stagecoach X17) and ask if she could use this bus to 'tap off' since she had forgotten on the First bus! Oh the joys)
My understanding is the operator gets a fixed amount, agreed in advance, so probably makes no difference
Even in that case, is there not the possibility that 'fixing' how capped fares are recorded will feed forward in to any future reimbursement?
Interesting, I'd wondered if there was a 'short' fare, but can't find mention of it anywhere. Do you know what area it would cover?
Blimey, they do exist! Where do you live, on West Bars roundabout or something?4. I live relatively close to my town centre, as such the price of a single ticket to town is £1.80 (yes sometimes I am lazy
Well, there is the six month review, but I seriously doubt any bus operator will get rich with it. I guess if they can double the number of passengers whilst reducing costs, they might make more. The scheme may well benefit City operators far more than country operators, where the difference between the normal single fare and £2 is higher.
This is why most sensible operators start the loop at the first unique stop and have one fare stage for the that section.
On paper, it should be a very simple thing to solve. The driver just has to wait for everybody to get off before logging out or changing trip.
Blimey, they do exist! Where do you live, on West Bars roundabout or something?
I travel from Guildford to Kingstok by bus. There and back for £4. The train only goes to Surbiton and then it's a walk or bus on top.
I have no idea honestly. It's an option on the ticket machine. (I might've seen an official Stagecoach document detailing this )
It's 5 stops including the one I get on at! Told you I was lazyBlimey, they do exist! Where do you live, on West Bars roundabout or something?
As stated above (post #164, most recently), and earlier in the thread, the sums are agreed months in advance on the based of a fixed basket of fares and passenger numbers for a past period. The individual route and destination are irrelevant, provided the route hasn't been excluded by the operator.
That rather sinks the nonsense I heard then about being ‘creative’ with the ticket issuing!
If it is free, I can't see how the £2 fare is paid at all. But if the Government remuneration is a fixed amount, the operator will get that regardless.. There must be people out there that believe that for a normal £4 fare, the passenger pays £2, and the Government pays £2. Sadly not. I do wonder though how it has affected bus usage. Centrebus reported growth of between 27% and 40%. Other operators claim it has made little difference.
Has to be programmed so that it recognises there’s a loop. Tap ons before the start of the loop “valid” till the end of the loop, but tap ons after the start of the loop count as the return journey.
It’s being paid out of BSIP money, given to Councils who can use it to promote bus or sustainable travel as they see fit.
