Coastliner fares?

[Spaceflower]

Anyone know the cost of a York-Leeds single via bus?

EDIT: Ignore that just found it. £5.50 apparently.

 

[danfitz123]

Its probably cheaper on national express.

 

[Deerfold]

Its probably cheaper on national express.

Walk up fare is a bit more expensive with NX (£5.90) and they only have 3 a day, compared to Coastliner's 4 an hour...

 

[starrymarkb]

Also from the 26th of May - Senior/Disabled passes will not be valid on daytime Coastliners. They are going to be re-classed as Express services...

 

[YorkshireRider]

That will have the blue rinse brigade in uproar

 

[Deerfold]

That will have the blue rinse brigade in uproar

Yep.

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/10370415.Anger_over_changes_to_village_bus_service/

Anger over changes to village bus service
8:37am Monday 22nd April 2013 in News By Haydn Lewis, haydn.lewis@thepress.co.uk
ELDERLY and disabled people will be hit by planned changes to a bus service between York and the east coast, one passenger has claimed.

Eric Barlow, 56, of Lowfields in Staxton, uses the 843 Coastliner bus on Monday to Friday from his village to Scarborough. He said plans to stop the service picking up and dropping off in Staxton will make life extremely difficult for him and anyone visiting the village.

He is also angry that for the first time bus pass holders will be charged £3 during the day if they board the service anywhere west of Rillington, including in York.

Mr Barlow, who is disabled, said: “I object to these changes and intend to start an awareness campaign to all along this route who are ignorant at present of the “summer misery” plans Coastliner has deemed acceptable for specific tax paying residents.

“I understand a similar plan, with different rules, is to be imposed on the 840 Whitby route.

“I feel I am being denied access to this previously unrestricted route. I cannot buy a car and I cannot pay £15 for a taxi.”

Coastliner marketing director Nigel Eggleton said there were plans to change the 843 service between Rillington and Scarborough, and Thornton-le-Dale and Whitby, starting on May 26.

He said changes to the way North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) funded the company have meant a cut to Coastliner of about 40 per cent.

Mr Eggleton said: “We are aware that many senior citizens who are bus pass holders would be prepared to pay a fare, but legally we are prohibited from charging them on a local bus service, but we can charge on an express service that doesn’t stop for a distance of 15 miles.”

“That is why we are looking at converting this part of the Coastliner route into an express service to try and compensate for the cuts in local authority funding.”

Mr Eggleton said the plan was to charge a fare for the new route for three hours between 10am and 1pm every day and it would affect a handful of people who used the route currently.

Mr Barlow claimed it would affect anyone boarding the bus in York heading to the coast as well.

Mr Eggleton said: “It is possible the decision will be reversed if we have successful negotiations with NYCC.”

 

[bb21]

Unfortunately the choice sometimes for pass-holders is to either pay a fare or have no bus service at all, all thanks to the rushed implementation of the ENCTS by the Labour government who did not really care about the real effects of this policy.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

That will have the blue rinse brigade in uproar

Hey there, steady on. I might be 68 years of age and a holder of an ENCTS bus pass, but hand on heart, I assure all forum members that I have yet to have "a blue rinse"....

 

[Deerfold]

Hey there, steady on. I might be 68 years of age and a holder of an ENCTS bus pass, but hand on heart, I assure all forum members that I have yet to have "a blue rinse"....

Whilst I, although somewhat younger, have had a touch of blue in my hair following each of my last 3 visits to the hairdresser.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Also from the 26th of May - Senior/Disabled passes will not be valid on daytime Coastliners. They are going to be re-classed as Express services...

Will these daytime Coastliner "Express" services show any different pattern of stops than those in current usage?

 

[radamfi]

Will these daytime Coastliner "Express" services show any different pattern of stops than those in current usage?

Yes, some villages en-route will no longer be served when the express service is running. There has to be a gap of at least 15 miles between stops.

 

[johnnychips]

I expect they will have to, if they need a 15 mile no-stop section to qualify as an express. See #6 about 8 lines from the bottom.

 

[neilmc]

Doesn't anyone else consider this to be a disgraceful way of depriving pensioners of their free travel rights and at the same time depriving whole communties of their local bus service? It's not as though the company gets no remuneration whatsoever from the local authority for carrying a bus full of pass holders, but clearly it's not considered enough by Transdev.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Yes, some villages en-route will no longer be served when the express service is running. There has to be a gap of at least 15 miles between stops.

Do these villages have other existing bus service provision or will there be any effort made to put a tendered service in place ?

 

[starrymarkb]

It depends on what the reimbursement is. Some councils give a flat fare (I've heard of one council where it was 60p regardless of distance travelled) which is a big issue on the longer runs like Coastliner (runs of 60-70 miles). They are still giving a substantial discount on the normal fares for those with passes who previously went free (£3 instead of £15) which makes me think that the Yorkshire rates are at the lower end of the scale. I also seem to recall some of these villages complaining in the past about being unable to board on sunny days because the bus was full and standing with Daytripping Seniors before leaving YORK.

 

[bb21]

The real culprit is the Labour government who rushed this ill-planned scheme into existence without considering either how it is funded or potential impacts on some communities. Reduced remuneration (37p a journey is the figure in some areas albeit that was a couple of years ago) has left some communities which previously had viable services without a service as the money no longer adds up. You can say that it is because the greedy bus companies want more and more money, but from what I understand it, these routes are pretty popular, so maybe the low remuneration rates, combined with fare-paying passengers being driven off these routes because they are full of pass-holders, are having a negative effect on these routes and the bus company can no longer subsidise it?

I am sure that many in the affected area would happily pay a token fare if that means the services surviving, but then that is not possible either. If the villages en route are left without a reasonable service then North Yorkshire County Council should step in and provide an alternative.

 

[radamfi]

Do these villages have other existing bus service provision or will there be any effort made to put a tendered service in place ?

Based on what has been said in the various newspaper articles you can find about it on the internet, it sounds like there won't be an alternative service during the hours of express operation.

 

[Deerfold]

Based on what has been said in the various newspaper articles you can find about it on the internet, it sounds like there won't be an alternative service during the hours of express operation.

Unless the county council decides to put one on. Which given recent cost-cutting seems unlikely.

Doesn't anyone else consider this to be a disgraceful way of depriving pensioners of their free travel rights and at the same time depriving whole communties of their local bus service? It's not as though the company gets no remuneration whatsoever from the local authority for carrying a bus full of pass holders, but clearly it's not considered enough by Transdev.

It's terrible for the passengers affected but should a company make a loss to provide these "rights"?

Other passengers may find they now have faster journeys...

Transdev started a fairly frequent service between Harrogate and York a few years ago (running up to every half hour), achieved such high loadings there were buses that were standing room only but withdrew it as most passengers were on passes and the service was not even meeting its costs. It was replaced by a service a handful of times a day which had to be subsidised by the council.

 

[radamfi]

The problem only occurs because there is the concept of 'commercial services' which doesn't exist other rich countries. With commercial services there will always be a problem of deciding how much to reimburse the operator. If the rate is too high, the operator will be accused of profiteering. If it is too low, then the operator complains that it is losing a lot of money. But it is difficult to decide whether the operator is just trying to get a better deal.

With gross cost tendering, such as London or Dutch buses, this problem does not arise.