New contributor Geordie Lad looks at the start of an important session in the house of commons, today, and wonders whether the Omnibuses Blog Army might be moved to comment… Omnibuses welcomes contributions
The House of Commons transport select committee begins taking oral evidence today as part of its inquiry into the Competition Commission’s report into the bus industry. The industry has already been invited to present written evidence, the deadline for which was 17 February.
The P.T.E.G., the Passenger Transport Executive Group, wasted no time in publishing its own evidence to the committee on its website last week. The document makes interesting reading. Despite the fact that the CC did not recommend that quality contracts should be introduced, The P.T.E.G. still keeps banging the drum for them. Here’s one excerpt from the document:
For example, The P.T.E.G’s analysis suggests that if all bus passengers were to switch to pre-paid tickets, bus operating costs could fall by 3 per cent due to lower journey times and demand would increase by 3.8 per cent. Despite the obvious benefits, few operators are yet to adopt network-wide pre-paid ticketing, discrediting the idea that competition necessarily leads to innovation.Now those of us who are a bit long in the tooth will recall that off-bus revenue collection and pre-payment has long been one of the industry’s holy grails. We’ve not achieved it yet and personally I believe it’s a very brave operator who in the current climate decides not to accept cash. But even so, the Achilles heel in this example from The P.T.E.G. is the word “all” in the first sentence—forget the PR stuff in the second.
Is The P.T.E.G. suggesting that all QC schemes should be completely cashless? Or is the financial case for them so thin that they’ve got to make spurious claims for potential benefits that the rest of us in the former metropolitan counties know are simply undeliverable ?
The P.T.E.G. will be represented at the hearing by David Brown, South Yorkshire PTE’s director general. Hang on a second. Could this be the same PTE whose ITA chair said recently that working in partnership is a ‘better alternative’ to QCs? (i Link)
i The P.T.E.G. view
Geordie Lad – gannin’ alang the Scotswood Rooaaaad
13 comments:
I have it on very good authority that a number of senior figures across the PTEs are becoming increasingly tired and embarrassed of Jonathan Bray's obsessive, relentless (and unhealthy?!) ranting. Why would anyone take him seriously? His days are surely numbered.
South Yorkshire PTE could help grow passenger numbers by working out where their county's buses actually go!
See:- http://publictransportexperience.blogspot.com/2012/02/bus-rides-bought-from-bawtry-2.html
Get simple things right first, eh?
"The P.T.E.G’s analysis suggests that if all bus passengers were to switch to pre-paid tickets, bus operating costs could fall by 3 per cent due to lower journey times and demand would increase by 3.8 per cent."
The lower journey times can only be achieved if drivers are not involved in validating passengers' pre-paid tickets. Current experience is that ungated passenger self-validation transport systems (e.g. London bendi-buses, Manchester Metrolink, Nexus Metro) is that fare evasion is estimated to be of the order of 10% to 15% rather than the 2% to 4% of OPO buses
"The P.T.E.G’s analysis suggests that if all bus passengers were to switch to pre-paid tickets, bus operating costs could fall by 3 per cent due to lower journey times and demand would increase by 3.8 per cent."
The lower journey times can only be achieved if drivers are not involved in validating passengers' pre-paid tickets. Current experience is that ungated passenger self-validation transport systems (e.g. London bendi-buses, Manchester Metrolink, Nexus Metro) is that fare evasion is estimated to be of the order of 10% to 15% rather than the 2% to 4% of OPO buses
Cardiff bus have recently announced that paper tickets will no longer be issued for weekly tickets - they will only be available on their "iff" cards. Stagecoach in South Wales are only issuing paper tickets that are stuck down in their own little card wallets.
Both measures have been taken to try and counteract ticket copying and fraud, which has been on a big increase from what I've been told.
That didn't make sense, I'll try again! Stagecoach in South Wales are no longer allowing passengers to have weekly tickets without putting them in one of those sticky plastic wallets due to a spate of photocopying.
Yes I tire of Jonathan Bray too. Suspect much of report is his opinion rather than a collective view?
@ TonyW1960:
Given that most major bus operators now have ITSO-compatible ticket machines, there's very little that a driver needs to do to ensure a ticket is validated correctly. What is needed is the operators actually bringing out ITSO cards for their networks and- even more importantly- incentivising people to use them.
I talk about Newcastle buses because that's where I live. Go-Ahead have "The Key" and have just brought in a scheme where you can buy your bus pass on monthly direct debit at a discount (around 10% off the top of the my head). Passengers will take it up if it is cheaper and more convenient for them.
Stagecoach Newcastle, on the other hand, nominally allow online purchase of tickets. You have to pay postage, the postage risk is yours not theirs (if your ticket doesn't turn up they charge you £10 for a replacement) and the online price is exactly the same as the on-bus price. Given that Stagecoach also have ITSO-enabled machines (for the CAT scheme) it makes you wonder why they're not embracing it.
So whats your choice.Competition,MONOPOLY?Regulation?Compulsion?
David,
Stagecoach have a smartcard system for their megarider plus tickets in Manchester (I think there are other areas as well), so it's not as if they haven't bothered embracing it whatsoever. As you say, they have the ticket machines. They certainly have been slow with implementing such a system more widespread.
Saying that, First don't seem to have embraced the smartcard either.
Arriva (in North Wales, not sure about elsewhere but guess it's likely they do) offer the ability to be able to purchase tickets through a mobile app. It sounds like a stunningly simple idea that makes me surprised that no-one else seems to have taken this on (perhaps some have and I'm not aware of it).
Whichever, for security and revenue protection, surely the days of the paper ticket must be coming to an end.
@ Eric:
The other issue isn't just availability, it is whether or not it is financially worthwhile buying off-bus. I've had a look at Stagecoach Manchester's scheme (I hadn't heard of it) and the savings are negligible compared to buying weekly on the bus. So why would people switch? Buying weekly on the bus gives you the protection of not wasting money if your plans change.
Even without smartcard technology that's an important point. Stagecoach Newcastle charge £14.20 for a week's Megarider+ or £56.80 for a 28-day Megarider+. What is the point in buying the longer period ticket if there's no cost saving?
First haven't inroduced a smart card as they are jumping that technology to roll out payment by contactless credit/debit cards:
http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/bristol_bath/travel_news/news_initiatives/?item=2961&conf=0
@ David
Spot on. To give examples close to me, a weekly with Cardiff Bus is £14, £50 for a 4 weekly bought from the office or £45 for a monthly when paying by direct debit, a saving of at least £11 compared with weeklies. Needless to say, the monthly tickets are popular.
Stagecoach charge £21.10 for a Megarider gold, while a 4 weekly saves £4.20. I got one once and had several inquisitive looks from drivers when showing it to them, some of whom had never seen one before!
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