Three Into One Doesn’t Go

The political, technical and PR genius that created the “integrated” (but very much NOT integrated) transport service for London was the infamous Oyster Card. It was this card which enabled passengers to travel seamlessly between modes,

For those unfamiliar with the genre, you load you card with money then tap in and tap out (except on buses where you only tap in) and the system deducts the money from your card. An added sophistication is that it never deducts more than the day or week Travelcard price, however much you travel.

The same deal is now available with tap and pay bank cards.

As an aside, the current bus fare is £1.75 using either card. Much like the common system in Europe, this gives you on hour’s travel and the option to tap for a further journey at the end of the first hour. In theory you could travel for TWO hours from £1.75.

Generally speaking in Continental Europe fares are the same irrespective of mode, usually with a system of simple zones. In recent blogs, fbb has looked at Berlin. Budapest and Mallorca.

There is a growing number of large urban areas where local travel is free for residents, e.g. most recently in Mallorca and, supremely, the whole of Luxembourg, city and nation (although the nation is not much bigger than the city)!

But while ever we persist in the UK in believing that Public Transport should be a profitable business rather than an essential service, the anomalies will always remain.

It is highly unlikely that even Andy will change them.

… by Bus.

Thanks to current Government policy, this bus ride via Stagecoach 219 will only cost you £2 and will take 38 minutes.

How much will this cost you as part of the “integrated” Bee Network? £2 surely?

Not quite!

Oh dear! The only fare that is cheaper than the bus is for a journey inside one zone. So how many zones is it from Piccadilly to Ashton.

You might think that the tram will be quicker as it is unencumbered with the glories of Manchester’s traffic. Well it is!

It will take 36 minutes!

For working out the fare, you now need a zone map.

So the fare for zones 1,2 and 3 will be £3.80. Of course, if you were using the three zones 2, 3 and 4 your fare would be only £3.20. The reason for the 60p saving is obvious? Or isn’t!!

Travelling from Piccadilly, you will need one change and the journey could take as long as the bus or tram. The fare would still be £4.80.

Surely it should be the same fare irrespective of mode? That would be true integration.

The only option, should fbb want to use either bus OR tram according to his elderly whim, would be a day ticket which again depends on the tram zones.

A day ticket for all Manchester’s buses, but NOT all Manchester’s trams, would, again, depend on zones. For the option of using the tram to Ashton the price would be £8.70. All tram zones would require a payment of £9.50.

OUCH!

There are tickets for bus, tram and train but they are equally complex!

What are the chances that Andy really can knit all this together? How long will Andy retain his mayorship? New mayoral elections are due in 2024.

Oh yes. Tram timetables are not published. 

The Bee Network is simply not (yet?) a “network” – it is just buses painted yellow and run by politicians not bus managers. A proper network may come …

… maybe? That’s Andy, demonstrating the viability of his plans!

At least one mayoral candidate is coming up with some Bee Network scare stories. His arrogance is probably misplaced but his financial facts are real enough. Those of us who see good cheap (FREE?) public transport in our urban areas as the ONLY way to combat pollution etc., would wish to punch Mr Buckley very firmly on the nose …

… but strip away the emotive anti-bus language and most of what he says is right.

Adding The Mortar Did What It Oughter …

… with oddments of touching up required. Likewise emphasising the grey end pillars reduces the overall whiteness. But filling the tops of the arched windows was very much a disaster. 

fbb sould not get the filler smooth enough …

… so a different bodge would be needed. But what?

 Next Variety blog : Saturday 7th October