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[Closed] Is it me or is bus travel really expensive?

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Had to take the bus today, only a mile and was fleeced for £2.30.
Is this normal?
I can count the number of bus journeys I've had on one finger in the last ten years and I though it was a bit spendy back then but compared to todays highway robbery it was fairly reasonable.


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 8:59 pm
 Drac
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A mile and you took the bus, have you no legs?

And yes they're expensive which is why I always walk into town.


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 9:00 pm
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Public transport is expensive full stop.

Thats why people use cars!


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 9:03 pm
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From the stop opposite (by the pub) into town? Had to for safety reasons otherwise you'd have got mown over walking?


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 9:05 pm
 CHB
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The cost of public transport in the UK is a national disgrace. Should be not for profit and subsidised. Costs me three times as much to catch train to sheffield with family as it does to drive.
As for buses into Leeds....well I think the bus fare is the reason that everyone on the bus can only afford crap tracksuits and/or leggings.


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 9:06 pm
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Public tranmsport is for people who can afford to be driven around.

there are usually lots of tickets offering discounts or unlimited travel all day, like Mega rider on stagecoach.


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 9:06 pm
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I have a free bus pass 🙂


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 9:07 pm
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Depends on how far you're going I suppose - it's often a flat fare. It was probably £2.30 if you went 5 miles.


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 9:07 pm
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Public transport is expensive full stop.

Thats why people use cars!

Yep, if I were to travel into the city centre with my 3 children it would cost over £10.
In the car it is only a 10minute journey and doesn't cost me that much.

Also if you sit on the bus and it is busy and somebody starts chewing gum or eating something I cannot stand it , so that puts me off too.


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 9:08 pm
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You want to try taking the train instead. The bus fare will suddenly seem reasonable.


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 9:14 pm
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Agreed public transport is far too expensive, but people always seem to forget about the cost of insurance, MOT, tax, Maintenance, parking and just think about the cost of fuel when comparing the cost to taking the car.


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 9:14 pm
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You want to try taking the train instead

Very few trains will take you the arduous one mile in to town, though.


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 9:15 pm
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Then there's taxis.

Took the taxi from ASDA to my other half's flat in London the other day (we were laden with bags). 1.1 miles according to Google Maps. £5.50.


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 9:18 pm
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@ Drac

Where I live has no pavement for about 1/2 the journey.
It's quite a busy road to our destination as Deluded will confirm.
I had one reception age child and one nursery age child.
My daughter is entitled to a school bus for this reason, even though the school is halfway along this route.

I would quite happily walk and have done on my weary way back from the pub before but there's no way I'm walking two small children along the edge of a busy country road with no pavement.

@ cougar
Also caught the train today and that was far more pleasing on the wallet than the bus.


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 9:19 pm
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Agreed public transport is far too expensive, but people always seem to forget about the cost of insurance, MOT, tax, Maintenance, parking and just think about the cost of fuel when comparing the cost to taking the car.

Valid point, but if you've already paid for all of those, as the vast majority will have, it's a no brainer to take the car! Unfortunately


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 9:19 pm
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Thats why people use cars!

I've heard some losers travel by bike :mrgreen:


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 9:20 pm
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I appreciate that it's not really relevant to anything but,

What on earth is "reception age"?


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 9:20 pm
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4


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 9:21 pm
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Gotcha.

Never use a long word when a diminutive one will suffice. (-:


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 9:23 pm
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You need to look at real comparisons using the real cost of driving remember thats around double the cost of petrol - public transport is almost always significantly cheaper per mile for one person as well as being faster and more pleasant.

Edinburgh £1.40 for any distance. Thats less that the return cost of driving into town let alone parking.

Edinburgh / Glasgow return by train £12 return for a 90 mile return journey. Hard to drive that for £12 in petrol let alone other costs including parking

Of course we do have the advnatage of not having priovatised services in the same way as in England but even so


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 9:25 pm
 mrmo
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Job agency contacted me today about a job, did a bit of research and it is a bit far to ride everyday, 22miles. I don't really like driving so rather not drive that everyday either, so i thought i would have a look at the train.

£17return!!

I mean what incentive is there to leave the car behind when the train is going to cost twice the petrol and then i still have to pay the fixed costs on the car!!!!


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 9:27 pm
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We looked at travelling by bus or train into Leeds instead of using the car and the journey time increased to just over 2 hours for an 8 mile journey for an extra £140 a year. Public transport outside London is a complete joke


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 9:28 pm
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Edinburgh / Glasgow return by train £12 return for a 90 mile return journey.

Train prices are all over the place. Getting from Preston to Accrington (which is less than half that distance) costs me £14 return.

From Preston to London can be anywhere from ~£20 to well over a hundred one way, depending on time of day / phase of the moon / whatever other ephemeral criteria they use to set prices.

A first-class upgrade on said journey is an extra 15 quid on Saturday / Sunday. On Friday, it's about £130.


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 9:29 pm
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what are you doing on an omnibus? Have you failed in life?


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 9:32 pm
 tron
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It really depends on where you are and what the offers are. On a weekend you can pick up a group day return (two adults, two kids) for four quid, which runs to about 5 am the next day. The bus stops outside my gaff and in the centre of town. On the otherhand, you can easily spend north of seven quid parking for a few hours. And you can have a beer if you fancy one... Or go shopping, come home, go on the lash, avoid having to pay for a taxi etc.

The flipside is that when I lived in Sheffield, the buses were bloody dear...


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 9:51 pm
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To take family of five 6 miles and back would cost me 5 x £4.20 on the bus.

£21.

In the car, it would cost me £4.00 to park and 2 or 3 pounds in petrol.

...and I can go when I want, come back when I want, and travel right back to my front door, with no bus nutters, no swearing, no chance of violence and with the radio on the station that I want, rather than the tinny hiss of someones earphones.

It's not hard to see the advantage.


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 9:58 pm
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Edinburgh £1.40 for any distance. Thats less that the return cost of driving into town let alone parking.

Edinburgh / Glasgow return by train £12 return for a 90 mile return journey. Hard to drive that for £12 in petrol let alone other costs including parking

[b]Of course we do have the advnatage of not having priovatised services in the same way as in England but even so [/b]

scotrail is a privitised service, as is stagecoach and citilink coaches, but get huge subsidies from the government and the local councils.


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 9:58 pm
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Thats right - they are not privatised services in the same way as in England - and the edinburgh buses still belong to the council in effect as do some of the trains


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 10:06 pm
 CHB
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West Yorkshire is bringing METRO back under control...hopefully that will help transport costs in a large part of Yorkshire.


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 10:09 pm
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Our local bus company (preston) does family day tickets which are a bit cheaper.


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 10:10 pm
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the trains are owned by rosco,s rented out and run by scotrail ,or to the local transport executive, and run on tracks owned by network rail,except for the little orange ones that run underground.

so basicly privatised.Just like in england


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 10:11 pm
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All Bristol buses are horrendously expensive.


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 10:13 pm
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I travel about 15 miles a day, each way, on the bus. I get a 10-trip ticket, works out at £2.20 each way. I calculate driving costs 30p per mile (and yes, you have to include the cost of the tax, insurance etc. because you don't get that for free and I don't agree with the reasoning that they're fixed costs) hence about £4.50 each way. Plus I don't get free parking so that's £5 per day.

Realistically, driving would cost me £14 per day - at best, if I could get free parking and ignored the running costs, it would cost £5 in fuel. Bus costs £4.40 per day. Cracking value if you ask me.

And I do cycle it sometimes, before you ask. It allowed me to justify a +1 for the collection.


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 10:16 pm
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TJ, do you [i]really[/i] want to go down the line of discussing public transport costs in Edinburgh?

[i]really?[/i]

http://www.edinburghtramfacts.com/


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 10:19 pm
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No project - it is not the same at all due to the involvement of the passenger transport execs and the fact that the councils still own the busses. As well as the trains not being a fragmented service. Thus the councils are able to run a sensible integrated service

By taking this path we have avoided the worst nonsense of the privatised railways and buses


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 10:22 pm
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and more pleasant.

Hahahahahahahahahaha.

Ohh that's funny, good one, I like your style.

Now stop please, you're killing me, my sides are splitting.


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 10:24 pm
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I get seven days bus travel for £22.50, use it for work which is about a 35 mile round trip

They run between St Ives and Cambridge on a dedicated guided busway with a bus every 7 or 8 minutes, buses have air con, free wi-fi and leather seats.

Excellent value and would be mad to drive (can't anymore for health reasons, so bit of a moot point anyway)


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 10:25 pm
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Edinburgh bus service is pretty much superb. Affordable, clean and frequent on the most-used services. For £1.40 you can go right across town, or round and round it as many times as you want.


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 10:26 pm
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MF - You mean you don't like to have a cup off coffee and relax in a comfy seat while reading the paper? Free wi fi, quiet. relaxing. i even snooze some of the time.

Far more pleasant than driving in either the cities or the motorway


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 10:28 pm
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TJ, do you really want to go down the line of discussing public transport costs in Edinburgh?

He seems to, "£1.40 for any distance" apparently.

HTH........I don't think TJ can/wants to see your posts Z-11.


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 10:29 pm
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Edinburgh bus service is pretty much superb. Affordable, clean and frequent on the most-used services. For £1.40 you can go right across town, or round and round it as many times as you want.

[u]Almost[/u] makes you wonder why they bothered spending a billion quid recreating Blackpool


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 10:29 pm
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No coffee or free wifi in Harrogate TJ.


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 10:30 pm
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Public transport is **** in this country!!
Overpriced, dirty and unreliable!
Got a train in Italy last yr, think it was 70 odd miles one way. Spotless, could have set my watch to the time it left the station and it cost 10 euros for both of us!!
Example for over here, labourer who works for me travels just outside of derby to just outside of Ripley, probably 12/15 miles tops, costs him 8 quid a day which is a fair chunk of his wage!


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 10:33 pm
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Example for over here, labourer who works for me travels just outside of derby to just outside of Ripley, probably 12/15 miles tops, costs him 8 quid a day which is a fair chunk of his wage!

The poor working class should get up early and walk to work


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 10:40 pm
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Thing is, TJ, the rest of us don't live in bloody Edinburgh! 🙄
Nice try, though.


 
Posted : 07/08/2012 11:56 pm
 poly
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Edinburgh £1.40 for any distance. Thats less that the return cost of driving into town let alone parking.
Fares in Glasgow and Edinburgh are remarkable value, but if you move outside the confines of the city you soon discover areas which are much more expensive, get poorer service and 'force' people into cars. £1.40 will get you about a mile in West Lothian, or Falkirk council areas. The economics of public transport are quite different in areas of high population density.

Edinburgh / Glasgow return by train £12 return for a 90 mile return journey. Hard to drive that for £12 in petrol let alone other costs including parking
Although that slightly misrepresents the situation. (1) At peak times a return train ticket is £21 per person. An annual season ticket (if you happen to be in the fortunate cash rich position of having £3380 upfront is £14.57 per day (based on standard work pattern) (2) This assumes you want to go from city-centre to city centre, journeys at each end add time and further cost. (3) Actually quite possible to drive it for the £12.10 cheap day return cost if you have a modern car and drive sensibly. (4) As soon as there are two of you it becomes a 'no brainer' in terms of cost.


 
Posted : 08/08/2012 12:04 am
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richmtb - Member
Public transport is expensive full stop.

Thats why people use cars!

Posted 3 hours ago # Report-Postdeluded - Member
From the stop opposite (by the pub) into town? Had to for safety reasons otherwise you'd have got mown over walking?

The cost of public transport in the UK is a national disgrace. Should be not for profit and subsidised. Costs me three times as much to catch train to sheffield with family as it does to drive.
As for buses into Leeds....well I think the bus fare is the reason that everyone on the bus can only afford crap tracksuits and/or leggings.


People use cars for convience and not because public transport is more expensive, which obviously it is not. Try adding maintanence depreciation parking charges never mind fuel costs.
You are both making pathetic excuses for using cars instead of public transport.
Worse still this is a cycling site I would have thought using your bike would be the natural alternative. Personaly I have only one scheduled bus a week if I worked I would cycle even if it involved 20 mile round trip (a shorter distance than i have done in the past). Furthermore buses are nearly always subsidised even some train journeys are. Trains are cheaper than driving if there is only one traveling. Only a moron would expect a family to travel cheaper by train than traveling by car (the remark is not aimed at the persons quoted above)The best thing I like about traveling by train is just how restfull it is with an almost certain view of decent bit of counryside and a chance to read a book if I am so inclined. BUSES ARE NOT FOR PROFIT


 
Posted : 08/08/2012 1:03 am
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21 euros a month for use over an entire country. Includes trains too. Seems reasonable to me.


 
Posted : 08/08/2012 6:30 am
 Drac
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Fair enough flatfish seems reasonable when you have young sprogs.

My car all in with fuel is about 36p per mile but I don't have to stand in queues, I can go door to door without tediously linking them up. I'll stick with my car for now as I enjoy driving too.


 
Posted : 08/08/2012 6:41 am
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It's about £5 return to town and back from our village (around 5 miles away) so more expensive than driving yourself so never use it during the day but cheaper than a cab on a night out.

Sadly they've stopped the old 11.15pm bus back on a Friday and Saturday due to anti social behaviour.


 
Posted : 08/08/2012 9:27 am
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BUSES ARE NOT FOR PROFIT

Err yes they are. A close friend owns a bus company and it is a commercial business.

I'll stick with my car for now as I enjoy driving too.

This too.


 
Posted : 08/08/2012 9:31 am
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People use cars for convience and not because public transport is more expensive, which obviously it is not. Try adding maintanence depreciation parking charges never mind fuel costs.
You are both making pathetic excuses for using cars instead of public transport.
Worse still this is a cycling site I would have thought using your bike would be the natural alternative.

Ooh get you, you seem to be making a lot of assumptions about strangers on a forum.
Public transport is obviously not more expensive?

Only a moron would expect a family to travel cheaper by train than traveling by car

So is it more expensive or not?

BUSES ARE NOT FOR PROFIT

Err try telling that to the people who run Stagecoach


 
Posted : 11/08/2012 12:20 pm
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To my work is 5.00 return - not bad for a 30 mile round trip. not to mention being cheaper than the sevene quid a day parking at work.

to the next village single is about 3 quid - a lot for 3 miles.

So I guess it can vary wildly as to whether it's cheaper than the car.

Having said that, we don't use our car much during the week, it's more of a toy thing for weekends, and I worked out it cost us about a tenner a trip in fixed costs - it is nice to have it, and there are various personal reasons why we want it, but financially there is no way it is cheaper than a mix of public transport and taxis like we used to.


 
Posted : 11/08/2012 12:39 pm