(26 Feb 2020, 12:32 pm)Andreos1 wrote Whether the amount of people buying singles or not, is low doesn't matter.
There is a market for them and they need to priced in such a way that people find them attractive and it encourages people to use the bus.
I often need to buy singles due to the nature of my work.
I get the train to the station, use the train to another part of the country and come back a day or two later.
I won't be the only one and it costs a fortune for me to use the bus in this manner (check out Houghton - Durham single fares).
Prior to the weekend, I last used the bus in mid December. Circumstances meant I had to buy a single then (check out the price of a single from Newcastle - Houghton).
If the 24 hour tickets hadn't been launched, then both mine and MrsC's ticket at the weekend would have been a single, alongside the one my mate bought.
It would have been a single for both myself and MrsC the following day too.
The cost of each of those singles just fall below the cost of a day ticket.
It would have been nice to have gone to Hexham or the beach, but time and circumstances didn't allow us to do so. As I imagine it wouldn't quite a few others.
My point was that those people who you say should be encouraged to use the bus are probably not the sort of person that will be going to the train station.
The average person probably wants to go back home once they've been out, and as such will more than likely want a return ticket if they're just travelling along one route, or a day ticket if they have to change buses.
To me anyway, it's the difference between buying a single bottle of water and buying a 6 pack for only a little bit more. The single ticket is there to take advantage of those who only need a one off trip, the very fact that they're buying that single ticket and not a day ticket tells them that they're not a regular passenger.
Plus, you have to take in to account that the costs that would normally be spread out with a day/return ticket are only being used once. You have the card processing fee if they're paying by card (usually about 2%), paper, driver's time (selecting ticket, counting change etc.). Sure, it's not a lot, but it all adds up.
I'd actually be quite interested in seeing the average amount of times a day ticket is used, my guess is probably 3 (with most people using it 4 times ie. two buses out, two buses in, with a slightly less amount of people using it essentially as a return ticket)