I don't know if it's the same all over the country, but ever since public transport went from being public with Merseytravel to being private with Arriva - the price of travelling has soared, sometimes as much as 3 times in 1 year!
Just yesterday, I went to the city centre with the hubby and our son - we walked there but got the bus home as it was raining heavily - 2 adult fares and 1 child fare cost £4.50 in total (2x £1.80 and 1x £0.90) - 7 bus stops, less than a mile home - it's the minimum fare for a bus ride in Liverpool - it's ridiculous! In fact, if we had got a private hire taxi home (which means you can get home straight to your door from any location, without having to wait around for ages (and when it's busy stand up for the journey), sometimes in the rain), it would have cost £3.50-4.00 - taxi's used to be more expensive than buses, but no it's the other way round and it's ridiculous! All you ever hear is that people should ditch their cars in favour of public transport - that may well help the environment, but there are no advantages other than that which I can see - they are unreliable, you get to wait around ages, spend a fortune and stand up for your whole journey sometimes - doesn't sound very good to me!
In my opinion, there is something very wrong when a taxi journey (which you could say is personalised and it takes you directly to and from your desired destination), costs less than a bus ride - £1.80 to go 1 bus stop is not a good deal!
Copyright ©2011-2012 Yvonne Brownsea
I totall y agree with you the prices are ridiculous on buses.maybe one day there reduce the prices
ReplyDeleteI know the prices are ridiculous. Totally agree that a taxi can work out better value depending on how many people are travelling and how far!
ReplyDeleteThe smaller companies are the worst - I can get a bus from my village into town, a distance of four miles, for under £4 with First, or a three minute hop across the same town with a smaller company for £1.50. Pensioners rely on these small local services. Disgusting!
ReplyDeleteI haven't used public transport for ages, I think the bus stops have machines now that you get your ticket from, I wouldn't know how to buy a bus ticket now, it all seems to have got very expensive and complicated
ReplyDeleteIt costs me five pounds for a return journey to my house to town. Its only 20 minutes away!
ReplyDeleteThat's disgusting, luckily I don't have to get the bus I don't think I have been on one for about 10 years.
ReplyDelete