29 Nov 2016, 5:19 pm
#856
(28 Nov 2016, 10:10 pm)Tamesider According to Google that's nearly 10 miles - shurely some mishtake. Just checked Stagecoach Manchester's website for my local routes and its £2.10 for 0.5 to 1.49 miles and £2.40 for 1.5 to 2.49 miles
Just to put this into context; Stagecoach DayRiders are £4, so single fares only apply to those making, well, single journeys, and all services in the area are fully commercial, so there is little danger of passengers having to pay two singles on the basis of the bus home being run by another Operator. OTOH, even taking the £4 as a flat fare for all day use, it is now virtually impossible for a motorist making a to/from town centre journey in my borough (Tameside) to pay as much as a bus passengers. In the town where I live (the £2.40 above refers to the fare to the town centre), the Council provide 60 spaces, but at least 1200 free spaces are provided by retailers, with the vast majority not even restricted to patrons only or by time limit. Additionally, (Labour controlled) Tameside MBC have just introduced a maximum £2 parking limit on all its car parks, for all day (about 2700 spaces). With motoring organisations quoting about 18p per mile variable costs of motoring (mainly fuel), that means a round trip of 11 miles to reach the £2 cost - to be added on to £2 parking. Thus you would have to live at least 5.5 miles from your destination for it to be more expensive than bus fare. The main town in the borough, Ashton-under-Lyne is centrally located and therefore less than 5.5 miles from any council tax paying resident. Other main towns are less centrally located, but have smaller catchment areas and a higher proportion of free parking. Of course, work usually takes people out of the borough - especially as job oppurtunities are lower than average - but here a car remains the choice for the vast majority (even if only to access the train station/tram stop), as medium/long distance bus services have all but disappeared since 1986.
