(21 Jan 2018, 10:21 am)Andreos1 wrote Years ago, GNE had what I thought was a pretty simple ticketing system. There was a regionwide ticket, T&W ticket and a couple of Town & City tickets. Maybe a couple of others, but all along those styles.
They changed it all, introduced coloured zones with obscure boundaries (and huge fare increases for some) and many more ticket types and then introduced a 30 odd page booklet to let passengers know about the huge array of ticketing options.
Confusing?
The new ticket machines give GNE the option of analysing ticket trends and travel patterns too. Something that I thought was a lacking in the past.
The patter about lack of sales following this analysis is something I have touched on recently and is something I think is flawed.
GNE aren't manufacturing a product, aren't incurring costs when buying raw ingredients and aren't paying staff to assemble it on a production line in a manufacturing plant they have a mortgage on.
They aren't then seeing those manufactured products standing on a shelf.
However, the withdrawal of the tickets has seen some passengers face yet another January fare increase. Except this one is a little more subtle and discreet...
Despite the vast (but rapidly reducing options for passengers), GNE still don't offer ticket types or travel opportunities that meet my needs.
I want a 24 hour ticket - which would save me money and could also encourage me to travel more.
They still force me to buy an expensive day ticket when travelling - due to the streamlining of services and a business plan that seems to have a huge reliance on the hub and spoke model.
I can't be the only one who would see the benefits and advantages of a 24 hour ticket nor reintroduction of direct services (and cheaper return tickets) surely?
If ticketing options are too vast or too confusing, then maybe looking at the way services operate is one way to fix it?
Getting rid of tickets that are financially attractive to some, is one model that I can't see working when looking to grow and develop usage. It goes back to the elasticity of passengers and I am guessing some will vote with their bums.
Just to throw in some balance and ensure this isn't seen to be an anti-GNE rant (it's not by the way), I recently had issues with ANE.
Again, for all the options they have and apparent confusion passengers and drivers face - when travelling with them recently and needing a return trip on one service.
There wasn't a day ticket that met my specific needs.
There was the option of one day ticket which covered a vast area (of which I had very little need to travel in a big portion of) and cost a lot more than I needed to or wanted to pay. The other option was 4 return tickets (Mrs C and the little Constantopolous's were all with me).
Where do you draw the line? I want options that aren't available and operators withdraw options that are available.
I understand ot is impossible to meet the demands and needs of all passengers.
I understand it is perceived to be confusing when a number of options are presented.
I see that it iss perceived as flawed, greedy and perhaps yet another example of operators showing a lack of understanding of passenger needs, when ticket options are reduced.
Good post.
I agree - the old 'Go n Save' tickets made things as simple as can be, and it was a mistake to ditch them in favour of the illogical Buzzfare boundaries. Everybody seemed to know what they'd need with the old ticketing options - either a Tyne and Wear, Three Cities (T&W+Co. Durham) or Regionwide ticket. There was no real dispute about where the boundaries lay. Buzzfare came in and it divided the Tyne and Wear ticket into three zones - including a boundary for some of those commuting from Gateshead to Newcastle, and more bizarrely, a boundary between Shiney Row and Washington Galleries. That of course only tells half a story, because it is without the multiple route savers, town savers and so on.
I've long called for a 24 hour ticket, as oppose to having 'day' tickets. It doesn't seem right that you're charged the same price for a day ticket at 6pm, as you would be at 6am. Despite having some 12 hours extra use out of it. The same goes for Sunday and bank holiday; why should you pay the same price for your day ticket on either of those days, when you have about 1/3 of the normal service operating? You wouldn't pay the price for a pint for a 1/3 in a pub... you'd pay for a third. So why should public transport be any different?
I quite like the idea of evening fares too, and I'd like to think that they'd support the viability of more frequent buses on an evening. Arriva run a '5 for a Fiver' fare in Durham City after 7pm, which is bound to be cheaper than a taxi in all cases.
Overall, I would like to see a lot more integrated working between the major operators in the North East. It is quite clear that they are reluctant to compete with each other route by route, and I think we've seen since deregulation, that it provides little benefit for the passengers when they do. So why not take advantage of the Buses Bill, and have some proper integrated multi bus operator ticketing instead? Cut Nexus and the Metro out, and have a decent product that offers good value for money to everyone... we might actually get somewhat closer to the pipe-dream of an 'Oyster card for the North'...
