TfGM Bus franchising

[WatcherZero]

County wide, all bus operators
28 day bus pass £80 x 13 £1040
28 day bus & Train £145
28 day all zones tram and bus £136
Annual Bus & train (including tram zone 1) £ 1450

Only on Bee buses but outside county as well
1/7/28 day bus pass £5/£21/£80

 

[HSTEd]

For reference, the Stagecoach pass costs around £630.
It obviously doesn't cover the entirety of GM as Stagecoach doesn't operate in half of it, but I am clearly looking at a major increase in costs.

 

[WatcherZero]

Stagecoach Megarider was £662 annual or £70 for 28 days from end Sep 2022, not sure how much they are at the moment as they've removed pricing information from their website.

Edit: At start of May 2023 they went up to £700 for annual and £74.00 for 28 days, so thats a 5.7% increase after just 7 months.

 

[Bletchleyite]

County wide, all bus operators
28 day bus pass £80 x 13 £1040
28 day bus & Train £145
28 day all zones tram and bus £136
Annual Bus & train (including tram zone 1) £ 1450

Only on Bee buses but outside county as well
1/7/28 day bus pass £5/£21/£80

Not sensible pricing there. Someone making 5 return journeys in a week (a very likely use case) would pay £1 more for a weekly than singles!

 

[Deerfold]

Not sensible pricing there. Someone making 5 return journeys in a week (a very likely use case) would pay £1 more for a weekly than singles!

The Stagecoach pass is £20 for a week, giving no saving to someone doing the same.

 

[WatcherZero]

Not sensible pricing there. Someone making 5 return journeys in a week (a very likely use case) would pay £1 more for a weekly than singles!

Depends whether you need one bus or two buses to get to work I guess. The government has kept extending the £2 single journey bus cap, last time it was about to expire in June 2023 and the government didnt announce they were extending it through the end of 2024 until the last week of May so TfGM in the previous annual price rise had said they would continue it at a £2.50 rate which is what the season prices were likely set against.

 

[Deerfold]

Period passes often cost more than 10x 1 single fare, especially at the moment with operators not wanting to re-jig all their pre-existing tickets. The cheapest weekly ticket to my local town is £16 a week, but a single is currently only £1 into town.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Period passes often cost more than 10x 1 single fare, especially at the moment with operators not wanting to re-jig all their pre-existing tickets. The cheapest weekly ticket to my local town is £16 a week, but a single is currently only £1 into town.

Do the period passes also allow for weekend use, which can be more than 10 x 1 single fares that normally cover travel to work and back on a 5-day week? Is your stated £1 single fare that only for a very short journey?

 

[WatcherZero]

New offpeak Family travelcard launching on Bee Network, 2 adults and upto 3 children under 16 (or until their IGO pass expires after their 16th birthday) for £9.

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said: "One of the biggest advantages of bringing buses back under local control is that they work for – and are accountable to – the people that use them. Earlier this year, some of our customers asked whether a family bus ticket would be introduced on Bee Network bus services.

"We've listened to that feedback and taken the decision to introduce the new one-day Bee Bus family travelcard earlier than planned, making it available in time for the busy festive period and New Year. We know that times are tough for people in this current economic climate – that's why providing lower fares and high-quality transport options are at the heart of our mission for the Bee Network.

"I'd encourage people with access to the new Bee Network services to make the most of our new family travelcard and get on board our buses."

New daily £9 family travelcard to launch on Bee Network buses

Children travelling as part of a family group must be aged under 16 and, if aged 11 to 15, will need proof of age ID

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk

 

[Deerfold]

Do the period passes also allow for weekend use, which can be more than 10 x 1 single fares that normally cover travel to work and back on a 5-day week? Is your stated £1 single fare that only for a very short journey?

They do (as do the passes quoted earlier). I'm not claiming they're useless, just not aimed at those doing one return bus a day, 5 days a week whilst promotional fares exist. The £1 fare is on the town network. It's the entirety of local routes and about 2km from Keighley on longer distance routes.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

They do (as do the passes quoted earlier). I'm not claiming they're useless, just not aimed at those doing one return bus a day, 5 days a week whilst promotional fares exist. The £1 fare is on the town network. It's the entirety of local routes and about 2km from Keighley on longer distance routes.

I see you mention Keighley, which is a tad outside the TfGM bus franchising area.

 

[Deerfold]

I see you mention Keighley, which is a tad outside the TfGM bus franchising area.

Yes, I was responding to the post about Buzz pass pricing to show it's not at all unusual. I would have left it there if you hadn't had questions about it. It's not easy to compare Buzz pricing without comparing it to somewhere else.

 

[Mwanesh]

£9 for a family travel card.Thats too expensive. The Birmingham one by comparison is £8. Why not just put a post instead of the usual political waffle

 

[Deerfold]

£9 for a family travel card.Thats too expensive. The Birmingham one by comparison is £8. Why not just put a post instead of the usual political waffle

It's less than the cost for 2 adults.

 

[pokemonsuper9]

£9 for a family travel card.Thats too expensive. The Birmingham one by comparison is £8. Why not just put a post instead of the usual political waffle

£9 is equivalent to 1 adult (£6) and 1 child (£3), but permits 2 adults (£12) and 3 children (£9)
£9 vs £21, a max saving of £12
My family in the past used a similar ticket a couple times that cost a bit over £14.

 

[M60lad]

Considering we're only 2 months away from the next round of franchising has anybody got any ideas of what changes there are to be any timetables if any?

 

[mic]

Considering we're only 2 months away from the next round of franchising has anybody got any ideas of what changes there are to be any timetables if any?

i would think they will stay as they are for Oldham depot

 

[GCH100]

If it's like the West, the changes will be the likes of extra late journeys added here and there, the only other real change so far in the west has been the reinstatement of the V2 back to full timetable, off peak. The timetable changes will start to be listed about a month before I would have thought.

 

[xitz2012@gmail]

If it's like the West, the changes will be the likes of extra late journeys added here and there, the only other real change so far in the west has been the reinstatement of the V2 back to full timetable, off peak. The timetable changes will start to be listed about a month before I would have thought.

Surely a full timetable will be reinstated at Queens Road? The frequency on some routes was reduced in September, I imagine to free up vehicles for use in Bolton. Some routes at Queens Road have a mediocre service currently, including my own (98)

 

[Geeves]

Considering we're only 2 months away from the next round of franchising has anybody got any ideas of what changes there are to be any timetables if any?

It seems like they are not upsetting the apple cart to much in the first phases but once the entire area is under the control of the Bee Network you would imagine they will be bringing in some serious changes. When does the final section of the Bee Network come into operation again?

 

[Leyland Bus]

It seems like they are not upsetting the apple cart to much in the first phases but once the entire area is under the control of the Bee Network you would imagine they will be bringing in some serious changes. When does the final section of the Bee Network come into operation again?

January 2025.

 

[Class 466]

Considering we're only 2 months away from the next round of franchising has anybody got any ideas of what changes there are to be any timetables if any?

All of Transdev/Ray Stenning's silly route renumbering & brands around Bury & Rochdale get undone (Bury Bolts/Rochdale Runners/Trax).

 

[Bungle965]

All of Transdev/Ray Stenning's silly route renumbering & brands around Bury & Rochdale get undone (Bury Bolts/Rochdale Runners/Trax).

A lot of the Rochdale Runners routes (R*) actually existed during GM Buses days, breadvans running around with the Rochdale Weavers brand at that time.

 

[neilcobbe]

Just a quick question, are the £5 day tickets valid on buses after midnight such as on the 9? Such late buses are a new thing in Wigan so not sure.

 

[NorthOxonian]

Just a quick question, are the £5 day tickets valid on buses after midnight such as on the 9? Such late buses are a new thing in Wigan so not sure.

The ticket validity continues until the last service of the day (or 4am on 24 hour routes).

 

[WatcherZero]

Just a quick question, are the £5 day tickets valid on buses after midnight such as on the 9? Such late buses are a new thing in Wigan so not sure.

Only a decade ago there was eight bus services running upto 3am every night of the week to get people home from King Street.

 

[SLTRegular]

Only a decade ago there was eight bus services running upto 3am every night of the week to get people home from King Street.

3:20 was the last bus which from memory was the 695

 

[neilcobbe]

The ticket validity continues until the last service of the day (or 4am on 24 hour routes).

Thanks for the replies and info. I recall the night buses but if I recall correctly, special fares asked and day tickets were invalid.

 

[WatcherZero]

Yeah at the time the day fares ended at midnight so you needed another ticket which was a premium flat rate price, nowadays GM day fares are similar to rail/tram and run until the end of service or 4am (when the early morning Airport tram service started when the airport was sponsoring it).

 

[D9006]

Yeah at the time the day fares ended at midnight so you needed another ticket which was a premium flat rate price, nowadays GM day fares are similar to rail/tram and run until the end of service or 4am (when the early morning Airport tram service started when the airport was sponsoring it).

The rate was flat fare of £2.50 . Used it many times