(17 May 2023, 11:13 am)Adrian wrote It's not about 'liking it or not'; it's about doing what is right to actively encourage customers to use buses. Skyrocketing fares will never do that, whether you try and convince yourself it's the answer or not.
As Andreos1 suggested in his post, you've still got the problem of the network not working for customer convenience, instead opting to best suit the operators.
The black hole is not there because of CBSSG and the rules around that. It's there because for the best part of three decades, private companies have failed in a deregulated market to grow bus use.
I never said I wanted higher fares. I pointed out where fares should be to cover costs. I am just being honest with myself knowing that to fix the problem of fares there needs to be honesty about how much it costs to run a bus service an how it should be paid for.
Bottom line is that costs are up to 130% of pre pandemic levels and usage from an effective standing start after lockdown 1 is 85- 90%. That figure doesn't change whoever runs the buses.