(19 May 2020, 7:44 am)Andreos1 wrote That 2/3% could make the difference between GCT running the service and making enough to get by or the margins being so tight, that it's not viable and they need to change their operating model.
All of a sudden, they're going to be putting in similar bids to the bigger boys - which then defeats the point of the tendering process.
I'm not GCT's biggest fan at all, but admire what they have achieved over a pretty short space of time. They do things differently to the bigger operators and that's what works for them and probably the taxpayer too.
It might be inconvenient for the passenger, but then it also is inconvenient when the bigger operators decide to go home early and stop playing for the night.
We need to remember that passengers, taxpayers, GCT and Nexus wouldn't be faced with these issues, if the bigger boys decided to play out a little longer on an evening.
This is the thing though, it should be spec'd in the tender. Not down to an operator to decide not to provide something.
We should be making bus travel attractive, and Nexus (as the operational front of the ITA), have a key role to play in that. It's not just down to the big three operators. Arguably contactless payment, especially in the current climate, makes bus travel more attractive. It provides passenger choice, and it likely creates bus journeys that wouldn't otherwise be made - people not having change, cash on them, etc.
The 2%-3% extra (per transaction) should be more than covered by the 2% increase in BSOG rate (smart card incentive), on top of the standard BSOG payment. They're also getting an extra 6p/km for using LCEB certified buses.