Suggested revision to SPT Zonecard

[adrock1976]

*Mod note* Originally posted in the Buses & Coaches section, but moved to Speculative Discussion as it covers more than one mode of transport.

As the Scottish Government have introduced free bus travel for under 22 year olds, and as SPT have withdrawn (or suspended the Daytripper, which may or may not come back in some form), and the zones of the Zonecard have never been reviewed for as long as I can remember, of which there are 72 in total going by the Zonecard map. This is more zones than what London has (maximum of 15 if including Special Zones such as Gatwick, etc) to put things into context.

My suggestion is as follows:

Glasgow North Zone Covers all of the G zones north of the Clyde, plus the Subway as an overlap
Glasgow South Zone Covers all of the G zones south of the Clyde, plus the Subway and bus/rail/tram north of the Clyde bounded by Anderston Cross, St Georges Cross, Buchanan Bus Station, Royal Infirmary, Glasgow Cross, Albert Bridge as an overlap (broadly similar to the shaded area on the Zonecard map), Braehead Centre with Renfrewshire Zone
Glasgow Citywide Covers all of the G zones above

Dunbartonshire West Zone Covers all of the West Dunbartonshire council area, as well as Helensburgh to Ardlui (south of the Highland Fault Line) and the former Helensburgh & Lomond District Council. Overlap with Bearsden/Canniesburn Toll
Dunbartonshire East Zone Covers all of the East Dunbartonshire council area, plus the former Cumbernauld & Kilsyth District Council area. Overlap with Clydebank Town Centre, and the Glasgow North zone from Bishopbriggs direction as far as Stobhill Hospital.
Dunbartonshire Zone Covers everything in West and East above.

North Lanarkshire Zone Covers North Lanarkshire Council area (excluding Cumbernauld & Kilsyth). Overlap with Glasgow North at Baillieston and Muirhead
South Lanarkshire Zone Covers South Lanarkshire Council area. Overlap with Glasgow South at Rutherglen
Lanarkshire Zone Covers everything in North and South Lanarkshire Zones above.

Inverclyde Zone Covers PA13 - 19 postcode (Kilmacolm, Port Glasgow, Greenock, Gourock, Skelmorlie). Also Dunoon Ferry. Overlap with Renfrewshire at Bridge of Weir and Johnstone Town Centre
Renfrewshire Zone Covers PA1 - 12 postcode (Paisley, Renfrew, Johnstone, Howwood, Kilbarchan, Bridge of Weir, and Lochwinnoch), and Barrhead, Neilston, and Newton Mearns (G77 and 78 postcode). Overlap with Glasgow South Zone at Braehead Centre and Clarkston Toll, and at Kilmacolm with Inverclyde Zone
Inverclyde and Renfrewshire Zone Covers everything in the Renfrewshire and Inverclyde zones above

Ayrshire North and Arran Zone Covers North Ayrshire Council, plus East Ayrshire Council north of Kilmarnock, Millport, and the Isle of Arran. Overlap with Inverclyde Zone at Gourock and Greenock
Ayrshire South Zone Covers South Ayrshire Council, plus East Ayrshire Council south of Kilmarnock. Overlap with Ayrshire North and Arran Zone at Kilmarnock and Crosshouse Hospital
Ayrshire Wide Zone Covers everything in the North and South Zones above

I have trimmed the number of zones from 70+ down to 15 - the same as in London.

If anyone has any better ideas, feel free to post them below.

 

[JonathanH]

I have trimmed the number of zones from 70+ down to 15 - the same as in London.

How big is the Strathclyde area relative to London?

What is the purpose of having larger zones? There would be winners and lovers from such a consolidation due to fares being set for a whole zone.

Is use of the transport in Strathclyde as Glasgow centric as it is perceived to be Zone 1 centric in Glasgow.

I personally think London should have zones much more like those in Strathclyde not the other way round.

 

[Mrwerdna1]

I think Glasgow itself should definitely be a single zone, anything else just becomes messy in my view. In fact, I'm generally not a fan of several zones in cities to be honest, unless we're talking about a city the size of London. I'd much rather prefer the city itself to be a single zone, perhaps at twice the price or with some other kind of surcharge, while the surrounding zones are smaller, but also cheaper.

As for whether one should opt for a ring model of zoning like in London, or stick with smaller zones, I really don't know. I suppose both have their advantages and disadvantages. There are some existing models that also have a large number of zones (50-100 for example), but still charge differently depending on whether trips are made towards/away from the city centre or around it. This way, orbital trips are cheaper, while commutes in and out of the city are more expensive. But again, I'm not sure which model would be preferable.

 

[Glasgowbusguy]

Tbf Glasgow ls treated as essential 2 zones as you can buy zone 1 and 2 or if you buy a 3 zone you get all Glasgow zones

 

[Mrwerdna1]

Yeah, but I'm thinking about how trips done with a future smart card could be more expensive depending on whether you stick to a certain part of Glasgow, or move around a bit more. That's why I'd prefer a single zone, keeps things simple.

 

[Flying Snail]

The big deficiency with Zonecard that needs fixing is provision of shorter term tickets. With the covid created shift to less people commuting 5 out of 7 and the withdrawal of the Daytripper there is a massive hole where many potential users have no financially reasonable option to use the product as they simply do not need a weekly or monthly ticket.

A day ticket and some sort of flexi ticket to cater for those commuting 2-3 days a week should be added asap.

 

[numtot12345]

The big deficiency with Zonecard that needs fixing is provision of shorter term tickets. With the covid created shift to less people commuting 5 out of 7 and the withdrawal of the Daytripper there is a massive hole where many potential users have no financially reasonable option to use the product as they simply do not need a weekly or monthly ticket.

A day ticket and some sort of flexi ticket to cater for those commuting 2-3 days a week should be added asap.

This would be excellent. Bonus points if I could load it onto my Smartcard and buy it say day before travel (or god forbid on day of travel itself...)