It’s rare these days to board a bus to travel just a couple of stops and pay less than £1. Most so-called “short hop” fares appear very high in comparison to the time spent on the bus. Over on the Dorset Bus Blog, there’s been some debate about operators effectively pricing themselves out of the short hop market. 
Short hop fares tend to increase at a greater rate than inflation. One reason is that operators wish to put up fares at 10p increments to make it easier for passengers & drivers. This lessens the time-consuming change burden. If an operator wishes to increase a £1.30 short fare by 4.3 per cent inflation, this gives a messy £1.36. Yet, the more logical £1.40 equates to an eight per cent increase.
Another is that short distance fares have, in the past, been targeted by operators as cash generators or even milch cows.
Back in the day of the Setright, even though it wasn’t always apparent which fares were the most popular, most traffic departments had a handle on the most popular fares. When it came to increasing revenue, they knew which fares to amend, which were best: short distances and this, since the 1960s, has been the case. The Almex A, complete with audit roll, backed up these hunches. Then came electronic ticket machines. Overnight, it became easy to tell which fares were popular and which not. And the targeting’s continued ever since, to the point where short distance passengers are now rare (unless they have a free travel card).
And we know that passengers find the price of one or two stop journeys both high and off-putting. Over the years, how often have you received complaints about it? They go something like, “I’m sure you would get more passengers if your short hop fares were considerably lower. They’re currently put off from travelling”. And they have a point.
Last month, National Express West Midlands decided to do something about it by introducing a £1 fare for short hops in the city centre. Targeted at frequent radials before they bifurcate beyond the city centre, such fares were designed as a “real opportunity to increase the number of people that use the buses”. It’s still £1 single, though, and from my own observations, those who complain about expensive short hops will tend to find even this too much.
But, really, would there be significant numbers of additional passengers for a more realistic charge? Would this generate the sorts of additional revenue passengers seem to expect? Or, might only marginally more travel, each paying considerably less? All this assuming that there’s a ready market from those now more used to walking.
The question we need to ask though is, does the industry really want or need short hop passengers?
- Short hoppers might cause undue delay for those passengers who travel longer distances. Even where buses frequently pause at every stop, there’s a time penalty in gathering fares more often.
- To my sceptical eye, give some passengers the option of a sub-£1 short hop fare and it’s a recipe for over-riding. There are parts of the country where dodgers have and will take advantage of a generous offer by abusing it (in significant number). This is one reason why, in some locations, the pricey short hop fare is set as high as it is. It recognises that over-riding’s rife and the operator may at least get as much as he can.
17 comments:
Here's a very rough comparison of the sort of indifferences between the value of fares, where I've used a relatively short journey and compared it with the value of a weekly ticket in South Wales. I've used First as this particular single ticket was the last I purchased.
A FirstWeek ticket is £20. I could theoretically travel from Haverfordwest to Cardiff and back for that at an estimated distance of at least 200 miles a day (I'm not sure it's possible, but I'm talking hypothetically). I'm sure even more mileage than that could be covered by a passenger if they had the time, or the inclincation! Cost of 200 miles a day, 5 days a week works out at around 2p a mile. Bargain!
A single from Bridgend to the nearby Sainsburys supermarket, which is 1.6 miles away according to Google maps, is £2.25. This works out at £1.41 a mile. That's more expensive than using the car.
Yes, they're extreme examples. But it does suggest that bus travel for one-off journeys is expensive. First had a marketing campaign a while ago where it urged people to think "Car second, bus First for short journeys". Actually, from a passenger point of view, that's the worst way to get value for money out of the bus. The more someone uses a bus and takes advantage of daily/weekly tickets, the cheaper bus travel becomes.
As another aside, why do many operators have return (and even) single tickets that cost more than the cost of an all-day ticket? A return from Aberdare to Porthcawl costs nearly £12, yet Stagecoach's day Explorer is £6.60. Most drivers I come across advise that such a ticket is cheaper and issue them but some don't. Are they allowed to?
You could argue that high short hop fares encourage walking which is good for health. High short hop fares are also good, as stated in the article, for bus productivity.
I do not see any alternative. However, the industry must recognise that short hop and indeed most single fares are a major deterrent to new users. A huge effort is needed to promote regular bus travel and there should be special fares on car free days and the run up to Xmas to get people to try the bus.
Promos should be on the back of the bus instead of car ads!
Bus fares for short journeys have never been good value, in comparison. To take a couple of examples from GOC (and these aren't even short 'hops' but sensible length journeys):
* Hull to Beverley: £6.35 return (10 miles = 32p/mile). Hull to York: £10.00 return (40 miles = 12p/mile).
* Scarborough to Robin Hood's Bay: £4.50 single (16 miles = 28p/mile). Scarborough to Middlesbrough: £5.20 single (55 miles = 9p/mile)
It seems to be pretty standard that you pay more or less the full fare once you're travelling half the length of the route - and in London and Edinburgh, it's worse, you're paying the full fare to go a single stop!
While I think that a slightly more linear price model might benefit passengers, and might improve the perceived fairness of fares, it is not likely to generate significant extra traffic on short journeys, and certainly unlikely to generate extra revenue. IMX the majority of people making short hop journeys are travelling on free passes anyway.
"To my sceptical eye, give some passengers the option of a sub-£1 short hop fare and it’s a recipe for over-riding. There are parts of the country where dodgers have and will take advantage of a generous offer by abusing it (in significant number). This is one reason why, in some locations, the pricey short hop fare is set as high as it is. It recognises that over-riding’s rife and the operator may at least get as much as he can."
I won't deny that there are people who take advantage but this way of thinking is becoming all too endemic these days - to try to counter abuse: the sensible, law-abiding majority are punished unfairly. Not just in bus travel but the recent proposals for minimum unit prices for alcohol and restrictions on supermarket BOGOF offers etc amount to exactly the same. Really, it's this large sector of the population that bus operators should be targeting, not putting them off in this way and reinforcing perceptions of extortionate fares.
Many continental public transport systems and using Magdeburg as an example,offer:
'Kurzstrecke' (short distance up to three stops) ticket at 1.30 Euro,
'Single' valid for up to an hour including changes but without doubling back, at 1.80 Euro, and a 'Day' ticket at 3.60 Euro valid throughout the whole urban area.
Is it any surprise that more people use trams and buses in continental cities? (Yes I know there are other factors such as subsidies and that more tend to live in city centre apartment blocks but the fact remains that there is much less attraction in the UK for people to not use their cars.) There is also much less fare evasion on the continent than in the UK.
The over-riding issue is a cop-out; if bus companies had travelling ticket inspectors and you felt you ran a high chance of being caught, you wouldn't do it.
There is no such thing as over riding.This historically is where the operators went wrong. some years agoThey decided to maximise their income from short hops thereby discouraging usage.They have never really tried to encourage usage.Back in the day we knew where our butter was and exploited it to the full with many short workings.Progress!!
Anonymous said...
"There is no such thing as over riding."
Oh really? What term do you use to describe the situation when a passenger pays to travel 1 mile, but stays on the bus for 2 miles?
I am inclined to agree with Neil that the over-riding issue requires effective control, rather than a general increase in the fares to the detriment of all passengers. Coarse fare structures and wide zones cause anomalies which some passengers resent - even here in Germany! The short-distance (Kurzstrecke) fares, or small central zones with a reduced fare for travel within that zone go some way to ease the problem.
Bus operators should perhaps bear in mind that motorists are probably more likely to be tempted out of their cars for a short journey, so it is probably a good idea to try to avoid giving such 'first-time' passengers the impression that they are being ripped off. If such passengers are satisfied with a short journey, they may try it again; if they think the cost is excessively high, they will probably not bother to even consider the bus for longer journeys.
I wonder how much revenue would be lost by doing away with short hop fares. Given they are of a low value,and possibly mainly used by occasional bus users,why have them at all ?
I'm doubt my local taxi firm would be inclined to wave the fixed meter charge just to take me up the road do you?
As already said, make your standard fares good value for a fair distance, and most of the short hops will be passes,for which the repayment ratio is quite good for one or two stops.
It probably comes down to specific localities where the size of the urban area might suit a short-hop fare. Steep hills might even affect it !
However, in general, I doubt that much revenue can be made from short-hop fares in most areas.
If the fare is low enough people may consider getting the bus. Many City Centres have free services which are well used, although they only cover short distances.
But at £1, is that still too much. For many i think it would be.
Problem is if you cut fares in half, you need double the amount of passengers.
Why not have tickets which are only valid for a certain amount of time, so that people could make a short hop return within an hour (going to the shop and back for example) for a lower price.
Short hop fares are expensive because the push up the average fare paid, from which the reimbursement rate for the free bus pass is calculated. If you lowest two fares are 50p and 80p you'll receive a lot less from the local authority each month than if there were £1 and £1.50. "End of!"
Reagrding Eric's comment, I understand the purpose of singles which are higher than day out fares is to 'maximise revenue' from OAP passes. An acquaintance of mine who drove for a Stagecoach subsidiary quoted such a fare which was in the ticket machine memory but which drivers were instructed not to issue to ordinary passengers - but OAP free tickets recorded the single journey taken. No further comment!
A bit like trent bartons £10 single, £10 return or £10 day ticket available on the once a day Leicester Xprss?
http://www.trentbarton.co.uk/fares-and-tickets/choosing-the-right-ticket
No such thing as over-riding?
Years ago, where I work put up the 2 "outer" city fares from 90p and £1 to £1 and £1.10. Before the change, the vast majority of people paid £1, ostensibly for the longer journey. Overnight, the majority of people then started paying the £1, ostensibly for the shorter journey.
Coincidence?
I think not.
I remain very very sceptical about the merits of short hop fares. It's a nice poilitical "win" in some areas too, especially where inner city deprived areas aren't too far away form "downtown".
In the context of NXWM a £1 short hop fare is still pretty high when placed in the context of the maximum single fare of £1.80 or a day ticket at £3.60. Although in their case it possibly makes sense to have a fare at a nice round number because of their exact fare only policy.
To whoever said high single fares "promotes walking", that's nonsense. Those who can walk generally still do- it's quicker to walk across Newcastle city centre than it is to get the bus- and it's about cashing in on those who can't walk or don't know where they are going.
With regards to comments about "over riding", that's the same regardless of any fare you may charge. The way to combat the "problem" (and that's assuming that there is one) is to have roving ticket inspectors out checking tickets.
Touch-in / Touch-out smartcards would solve the overiding problem as the penalty for not touching out is to be charged the maximum fare.
Its interesting how concessionary fares distort cash fares so as to maximise re-imbursement rates. Is it wise however to punish the only customer sector with growth potential (cash fares) in order to play the reimbursement system?
If your customer base is made up of mainly concessionary pass holders you don't have complete control of your prices as they are set by government. In fact you could be said to have become an agent of government social services. In which case buses may as well be taken back into public sector ownership.
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