RE: Go North East - Fares increase again 23rd October 2022
(20 Oct 2022, 9:55 pm)mb134 wrote Just had a chance to go through these, and I genuinely think there are areas where they still don't go far enough.
I think the fare reductions during Covid were mistakes, and as such any increase now looks harsh given cost of living. This increase still doesn't put the fares as high as they arguably should be - the maximum single fare is still £1.10 lower than it was in 2021, despite soaring fuel costs, increasing wages etc.
I still massively disagree with the 5-25 pricing bracket too. I understand those still in full time education receiving subsidised travel, but surely the best option is to implement student ticketing like most other operators and cap the "young person" ticketing at 18/19. Allowing, for example, 25 year olds in full time employment access to massively discounted travel seems mental from a business POV.
I imagine some of the backlash (sorry, angry emoji reactions on FB) to the increase would have been avoided if the fares were not set unsustainably low in the first instance. I'd be tempted to say that there will be people at GNE who want to increase fares even further to align them with other companies in the region, and to help combat increasing running costs - but a hike that big is unrealistic in one go.
I think you're right about the reductions during Covid being a mistake (in hindsight), but I think it was done for the right reasons. The idea that if you offer someone a bargain, they'll be willing to snap your hand off and therefore your business should grow as a result. The only problem is that they didn't, it didn't and now it looks like a complete gamble.
It's actually astonishing to think that a business would have taken that much of a commercial risk without any kind of mid to long-term plan or forecasting, but if they have had that, then they've got it massively wrong.
They've also created a new problem, in that if they couldn't attract growth to their services at bargain prices, then what hope do they have of doing it now. With higher fares, less services overall, less frequent services (that still exist) and reliability like a Michael Fish storm report?
As I said in my original post, I think they're nailing shut their own coffin here, because their method of maintaining margin; against rising costs and lower ridership, is to both cut services and pass the rest on to the customer.
I disagree on the 5 to 25 ticket range. I think it's positive to see a commercial operator trying to do what the Government should do, in attempting to influence modal change and encourage public transport use. It's more a shame that this is being done in silo, and really outside of what GNE promote, there's nothing about this being a thing anywhere. Not to mention that it's confusing, when you have three principal operators in some areas, all with different rules and schemes...
(21 Oct 2022, 11:22 am)Ambassador wrote It'll be cheaper to get the 82 from Birtley to Gateshead and then pay for the Metro to Newcastle than it is to use the 21 from Sunday....madness
It probably explains why the 82/82A appears more popular than ever. I've used it a couple times over the last month or two, and it's generally almost every seat full on one of their E200s. I even had a couple do the whole route to the Galleries with me, despite it being the slowest option.
(21 Oct 2022, 1:49 pm)streetdeckfan wrote Here's some potentially controversial opinions:- Start charging for under 5s, if they take up a seat, they pay for a seat.
- Charge extra for pushchairs that aren't folded as they take up 3 seats (I would say the same for wheelchairs, but I'm sure that would be illegal)
- Scrap free concessionary travel for all over 65s or whatever it is now, and make it a means tested benefit. People who can afford to pay for the bus, shouldn't get it free, and likewise people who are struggling should at least get some help towards bus fares (how very un-tory of me to think of the poor people)
Some potentially un-controversial ones:- Delay Repay for buses - ridiculous it's not already a thing
- Reintroduce the ticket acceptance that was a thing during COVID
- Charge per mile rather than per 'fare stage', whatever one of those even is!
Nobody pays for a seat. You pay a fare to a destination and you take a seat if there's one available. There's no entitlement to one. The idea of GNE (or any operator, for that matter) introducing a policy like that would be a PR disaster of the highest order. As would charging extra for pushchairs.
Free concessionary travel should be extended, not scrapped. If we're serious about encouraging modal change and the use of public transport, we've got to be prepared to make it much more attractive to use. A big part of that is your beloved Tory Party putting proper funding into buses, like they promised and failed to deliver with Bus Back Better.
I do agree with a delay repay scheme for buses, but it couldn't be like for like with the rail scheme. There's hundreds of things that can impact a bus getting from A to B in terms of traffic, but a railway is a much more controlled environment. I would encourage a scheme that pays out for when it's within the operators control, e.g. cancellation through lack of drivers, or buses that have broken down.
Ticket acceptance would likely be a thing under the BSIP (see note about Tory Party funding), but until then, its unlikely to happen on a large-scale basis. Charging per mile is problematic too, because a bus doesn't always go the quickest route.
