(02 Mar 2020, 11:04 pm)BusLoverMum wrote The journey being cheaper depends on the journey. Interestingly it cos me the same to travel into Newcastle, on the same bus, as streetdeckfan, with me travelling from Fram and him from the arse end of bishop. Driving would use twice as much fuel for him as for me but I still consider my £6.30 days aver to be quite reasonable when you consider the price of parking in Newcastle. If I travel in with Husband, the cost of the bus for both of us is still OK compared with fuel plus parking and means he can have a beer with his lunch, if he wants. One of the reasons we moved to this side of Durham was to make it feasible for him to work on tyneside and use public transport for part of his journey, as that's where a lot of the jobs in his industry, using his skill set, are. As it is, he works on teesside and it doesn't matter what it costs to take the bus because he's blown if he's setting off the night before to get to work on time!
Some interesting points there.
Quite amazed that you would pay the same from Fram as streetdeckfan fan does from the arse end of Bishop, yet others (myself included) who don't have a direct bus to Newcastle need to buy a ticket which costs £7.00, involves a change of buses and can take twice as long as the same journey in the car. Certainly not the sort of incentive to work away on the laptop.
However stressful it can be relying on the connections, I have used a week-long ticket when working in the town for a week or two at a time. I do admit that those type of tickets are financially attractive, even if the journey isn't pleasant or relaxing at all.
(02 Mar 2020, 11:43 pm)streetdeckfan wrote Try putting a laptop on the table in a Nissan Note (I've tried, it's not possible!), heck try even using a laptop in the back seat of a car, that's pretty difficult too!
I'm not even going to get in to the discussion over price again even though that's the name of this topic (as I've already said many times that for MY journeys, it's far cheaper to travel by bus than car)
I mean, you're not wrong about it being the arse end judging by the state of my neighbours!
For some people, the convenience of not having to drive is worth travelling by bus for, your example of being able to have a drink with lunch is perfect.
For me, being able to work on the bus for 2 hours vs having to 'waste' 45 minutes in the car, even if I get to the destination an hour earlier, is worth it as it's still 45 minutes less time I can charge for! (which at minimum wage is £6.15, more than the cost of a single on the X21)
*indicates he's gonna stop talking about prices and then continues to talk about prices*
Seriously though, maybe you have highlighted an issue there. Maybe the operators have the same 'I'm all right Jack' attitude. It works for them, so stuff everyone else who it doesn't work for. Or, maybe they're just ignorant of the fact that it doesn't work for everyone.
As I said yesterday, when I apply a Cost Benefit Analysis, a number of journeys don't work. It's just not feasible at all.
For others it will be.
I'd argue that it needs to be feasible for the majority of the population (and not just the 'sort of passengers' they want - remember that 1% figure you seemed so happy to ignore).
The number of people operators shift versus the population they're not shifting has a huge disparity.
Maybe offering pricing which is attractive for the majority (not just you) and their various needs (not just yours), is one way forward.