Stagecoach Manchester fares

[Xenophon PCDGS]

My wife decided to visit some friends today in Heald Green and during the conversation, she was told that a two-stop journey from The Griffin Hotel on Finney Lane to Heald Green Health Centre was £1.70.

Is that the standard fare charge by this operator for a journey of just two stops ? It seems quite dear for such a short journey.

 

[northwichcat]

Here's the fare tables for Stagecoach Manchester:
http://www.stagecoachbus.com/uploads/stagecoachmanchesterfaretables27october2013.pdf

There are some £1.30 fares on there.

Arriva Merseyside charge £2.10 single for any journey made within the 'Liverpool' zone so Liverpool Airport to Liverpool city centre is £2.10 while Liverpool Airport to Liverpool Airport Business Park is also £2.10.

 

[afyutr]

Looks cheap compared to a single in London!

 

[northwichcat]

Looks cheap compared to a single in London!

Public transport in London is expensive. In PTE areas public transport is below the UK average. However, it's not really a north/south divide as some people make think - Cornwall's similar to Cumbria in public transport terms.

 

[transmanche]

Looks cheap compared to a single in London!

Only the single-stage fare of £1.30 is cheaper than London. Everything else is more expensive than London's £1.45 flat fare.

Except for the approx 1% of passengers who still pay cash for their fare, an option that's likely to disappear soon anyway.

 

[northwichcat]

Only the single-stage fare of £1.30 is cheaper than London. Everything else is more expensive than London's £1.45 flat fare.

Except for the approx 1% of passengers who still pay cash for their fare, an option that's likely to disappear soon anyway.

Just looking here: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/fares-2013/28898.aspx

Apart from the single cash fare on buses for a short distance they are indeed very cheap. £4.40 for the daily price cap on buses with an Oyster card is also very cheap it's £5 off-peak / £5.60 peak (bus only) or £6.70 off-peak / £8.60 peak (bus + tram) in Manchester. I didn't realise it was that much cheaper for buses in London compared to Tube and heavy rail when I made my earlier post.

 

[transmanche]

I didn't realise it was that much cheaper for buses in London compared to Tube and heavy rail when I made my earlier post.

I guess most people consider London fares to be expensive as they only think of Z1 fares. But TfL rail fares for off-peak non-Z1 journeys are pretty cheap too; £1.50 for any off-peak journey in Z2-6 - which can make many journeys cheaper by rail than by bus. You can even make quite long journeys such Heathrow to Epping[*] avoiding Z1 for just £1.50.

* via Turnham Green, Gunnersbury and Stratford.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I guess most people consider London fares to be expensive as they only think of Z1 fares. But TfL rail fares for off-peak non-Z1 journeys are pretty cheap too; £1.50 for any off-peak journey in Z2-6 - which can make many journeys cheaper by rail than by bus. You can even make quite long journeys such Heathrow to Epping[*] avoiding Z1 for just £1.50.

* via Turnham Green, Gunnersbury and Stratford.

Which makes the matter of paying £1.70 for a two-stop journey (that my wife reported) seem quite lucrative for Stagecoach Manchester.

 

[Deerfold]

Which makes the matter of paying £1.70 for a two-stop journey (that my wife reported) seem quite lucrative for Stagecoach Manchester.

In common with many bus operators Stagecoach Manchester charge a lot for short journeys with longer journeys and day tickets being far more reasonably priced.

My return ticket to town (about 1.5 miles) is £2.80. There are cheaper fares for shorter distances of £2 and £2.20 (singles are £1, £1.40 and £1.70).

However for £3.10 I can get a ticket valid for as many trips to town and a similar distance out on all routes for the day which is transferable or for £3.80/£4.80 (off-pk,pk) their entire network and some validity on sister companies.

Any comparisons with TfL should bear in mind the larger subsidy element in London.

 

[transmanche]

Any comparisons with TfL should bear in mind the larger subsidy element in London.

Which delivers a vastly superior bus service, rather than lower fares per se.

Greater Manchester residents chose not to have a cross-subsidising congestion charge like London.

 

[hassaanhc]

I guess most people consider London fares to be expensive as they only think of Z1 fares. But TfL rail fares for off-peak non-Z1 journeys are pretty cheap too; £1.50 for any off-peak journey in Z2-6 - which can make many journeys cheaper by rail than by bus. You can even make quite long journeys such Heathrow to Epping[*] avoiding Z1 for just £1.50.

* via Turnham Green, Gunnersbury and Stratford.

And if you hold certain railcards and have it linked to your Oyster (like I have with my 16-25 one), the Tube/DLR/LO off-peak in Z2-6 becomes £1 ! (1/3 off on off-peak train fares and caps or a paper Z1-6 off peak travelcard). This makes any weekly or longer travelcards poor value for me unless I know I'm making several peak time journeys.

In some areas the bus operators can be really expensive, I remember finding myself at Heathrow Central Bus Station last year and wanting to try one of First's new Volvo hybrids, I had £3.15 with me and was shocked when a Heathrow-Slough single was £4.60. When I did eventually go on one I opted for a "Slough Area 1&2" day ticket for £6 and sampled their other services as well. On the other hand, if you take any route that participates in the Heathrow Free Travel Scheme and change to the 81 you can make a journey to Slough in roughly the same time for £2.40.

 

[Deerfold]

Which delivers a vastly superior bus service, rather than lower fares per se.

Greater Manchester residents chose not to have a cross-subsidising congestion charge like London.

Was the GM scheme likely to provide funding for bus services? It's difficult for anywhere outside of London to provide that.

On the other hand, if you take any route that participates in the Heathrow Free Travel Scheme and change to the 81 you can make a journey to Slough in roughly the same time for £2.40.

Or £1.45 on Oyster.

The only times I ever caught First from the Airport to Slough I was travelling beyond on the 76.

 

[WatcherZero]

Was the GM scheme likely to provide funding for bus services? It's difficult for anywhere outside of London to provide that.

Wasnt at least in the initial allocation to provide any funding for services (with the exception of setting up orbital bus routes which would have required some ongoing subsidy) though it did provide funding for several bus infrastructure schemes.

 

[hassaanhc]

Or £1.45 on Oyster.

Indeed, although I missed out that the most you can end up paying is £2.40

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Greater Manchester residents chose not to have a cross-subsidising congestion charge like London.

Was this congestion charge mainly to fund the planned expansion of the Manchester Metrolink at that time. Irregardless of areas such as Wigan being solid Labour and Trafford being solid Conservative in terms of normal electoral voting, all 10 areas of Greater Manchester voted overwhelmingly to reject the 2-band proposed congestion charge.