18 Aug 2021, 4:02 pm
#160
I think that public transport organisations need to consult with car drivers about what would attract them out of their cars, rather than guess (in some cases, pretty badly) what they want. I couldn't care less if the bus is "posher than my car" or if it's "the green machine". I want to travel by the quickest and cheapest way possible.
In terms of cost, as an existing car driver when travelling to Newcastle, it's actually cheaper for me to use a Metro park and ride if travelling alone, or to drive into the city centre if I'm sharing the journey. I've broken down the costs of each mode of transport to show how poor value for money the bus is.
Metro park and ride
- drive to Northumberland Park | 20 minutes | £2.40 in diesel (round-trip)
- park, walk and wait for the Metro | average 5-10 minutes | £1.20 parking fee
- take the Metro to Haymarket | 17 minutes | £3.75 return with Pop PAYG
total journey time 42-47 minutes, total cost £7.35, two people (sharing cost of fuel and parking, add £3.75 Metro ticket) £5.55 per person
Arriva bus- walk to bus stop and wait for X21 | 5 minutes
- take the X21 to Haymarket | 55 minutes | £7.50 return
total journey time 60 minutes, total cost £7.50, two people (sharing cost with duo ticket) £7.25 per person
Driving into the city centre (cheapest car park)- drive to St James' MSCP | average 30-35 minutes | £3.64 in diesel (round-trip)
- find a parking space and pay for parking | 5 minutes | £0.80 per hour (£4.00 for 5 hours)
- walk to Haymarket | 10 minutes
total journey time 45-50 minutes, total cost £7.64, two people (sharing cost) £3.82 per person
Bus operators need to work on bringing their prices down, matching the specifications of cars, providing consistent levels of service and providing a similar journey time between major towns and cities, otherwise car drivers will not be interested. Instead, the one company actively marketing themselves, are focusing on claiming to be "better than ever", pushing anti-car messaging or promoting their green credentials - is this something that a car driver will
actually care about?
