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Post by Craig on Jul 14, 2008 20:52:31 GMT 1
Given how confusing First's system of fares and prepaid tickets has become, I thought it might be helpful to people to list the options now available (as of the 20th July fare changes):
West Yorkshire countywide tickets:
FirstDay £4 available from the driver
FirstDay Out £1.80 available from the driver (for people aged 11-18 with valid Metro concessionary photocard)
FirstDay Family £5 available from the driver (for up to 2 adults/3 children or 1 adult/4 children - introductory price £5, will increase to £6.50)
FirstWeek £17 available from the driver
FirstMonth £57 buy in advance, photocard required
First3Month £165 buy in advance, photocard required (valid for all of West Yorkshire but seemingly only sold in Leeds area)
FirstYear £590 buy in advance, photocard required
FuelBuster £300 valid for 6 months, buy in advance, photocard required, special offer only available in July
Leeds area:
Individual fares: 90p, £1.10, £1.60, £2.00 max off peak, £2.50 max peak
FirstDay Leeds £3, available from the driver after 9.30am Mondays to Fridays or all day weekends and bank holidays
FirstWeek Leeds £16, available from the driver
FirstWeek GreenZone £10, available from the driver, valid with "Green Zone" boundary only
Bradford area:
Individual fares: 70p, £1.20, £1.70, £2.00 max off peak, £2.50 max peak
FirstDay Bradford £2.80 available from the driver, before 9.30am Mondays to Fridays can only be purchased using FirstCard
FirstMonth Bradford £54 buy in advance, photocard required, available for £53 when using FirstCard
FirstYear Bradford £560 buy in advance, photocard required, available for £550 when using FirstCard
Halifax and Huddersfield:
Individual fares: 80p, £1.20, £1.50, £1.70, £2.20
FirstDay Off-peak £3.50, available from the driver after 9.30am Mondays to Fridays or all day weekends and bank holidays
FirstWeek NHS £14, available from the driver, valid only with NHS ID card
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Post by guyarab on Jul 15, 2008 9:36:11 GMT 1
According to BBC Radio Leeds news this morning, West Yorkshire's bus fares are to be increased from Sunday with First's up by 8% (about twice the rate of inflation) because of fuel charge increases. It went on to say that Metro dispute this saying that operators have a contract rate for paying for fuel and that the increases have yet to hit them, with First having a set figure until the end of this year and Arriva for three quarters of next year. Therefore they should not be increasing fares because of this.
Would be interesting to know the respective companies' explanations would it not?
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Post by jimbob90 on Jul 15, 2008 19:15:31 GMT 1
Can't believe the First Day Out has gone up to £1.80! I imagine Arriva's Day Ticket will go up from £1.90 to around £2 as well!
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Post by jackh on Jul 15, 2008 22:06:24 GMT 1
Well it does look like First have been attacked today about these fare rises on both Look North and in the Yorkshire Evening Post. www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/Leeds-bus-firm-puts-fares.4286727.jpI think it is unfair on First that they recieve this negative press attention and Arriva gets away with it. First have attempted to improve services whilst Arriva do everything they can to deter passengers from their services. The only reason why they get the flack is because they are the largest transport company so are prone to this attention. |
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Steve Macz403
Forum Member
Waits at the bus stop for his bus, 2 days later bus turns up :D
Posts: 1,678
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Post by Steve Macz403 on Jul 16, 2008 14:32:01 GMT 1
£4 , you gotta be kiddin, I feel sorry for anyone who uses First Bus, there doing it coz there's no competition with other companies. Since first are the main bus company in Leeds, they seem they can think that they can do what they want.
If there was competition maybe if Stagecoach came and introduced themselves into leeds, it wud hav First panickin like Hell. Also if supertram still existed this wud have forced first to lower there fares so that they can compete with a tram.
What first need is bleeding competition, a transport company needs to come and rival that of first leeds offering cheaper fares , but a good bus service.
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Post by jackh on Jul 16, 2008 14:47:33 GMT 1
I have probably mentioned this a few times now, but once upon a time First and Arriva used to compete with each other in Leeds. However they made an illegal agreement where Arriva would retreat in Leeds. Both companies were threatened with fines from the OfT of which were dropped.
Yes, competition all sounds well and good in sectors such as Retail where the competition is national. But with buses, it tends to be more locally based and only the profitable corridors will see an influx of bus routes from different companies going to head to head once one another. So cheaper fares are offered to passengers on certain routes which is ok for them.
The downside to this is that bus companies will be stretched with resources during the battle so need to get drivers which industry wide, there appears to be a shortage of them. As both companies will also be making a loss financially, it means that less profitable routes will either face the chop or go for tender which is more taxpayer money been wasted. Further to this, fares elsewhere will rise to compensate for loss of revenue.
And to add onto this, the only change in passenger flows would be amongst the pass bashers who would just get on the first bus to show which will take them to their destination. Remember, bus companies only get around 60% of money from the Government for that pass as they would get from an Adult fare paying passenger. So another reason why they will make losses for both companies involved.
Eventually, one operator will call it quits and most likely is the operator that came into the market to compete. Then you're back to square one.
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Post by angrycommuter on Jul 16, 2008 15:51:51 GMT 1
The monopoly of large bus groups is a bad thing for passengers. Since seeing off the competition (Black Prince, Taylors, Optional Bus), the prices have just rocketed. What is needed is an influx of small operators that serve one route well, with lower prices and a better service all round.
The only example I can think of is the 205 operated by Longstaff. Their fares are cheaper than Arriva, the self-contained nature means the bus is always on time and always show up (I don't recall a Longstaff service ever missing). Passengers wave the Arriva 202 by, to wait for the 205 which comes 5 minutes later. I have heard that they may be planning to increase the frequency to every 30 minutes now that their coaching operation has ceased, but have yet to see anything concrete.
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Post by jimbob90 on Jul 16, 2008 20:22:40 GMT 1
A real shame that Black Prince isn't around anymore. I bet if they were still around the fleet would still be the same, Scania Deckers on the 54 and the Prismas on the X49!
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Post by jackh on Jul 16, 2008 21:48:26 GMT 1
Brain Crowther liked his Optare Prismas due to their reliability but they are supposed to guzzle the fuel.
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riclam
Forum Member
Posts: 147
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Post by riclam on Jul 18, 2008 15:56:50 GMT 1
First is becoming to much of a monopoly, its about time oft stepped in!!
I wouldn't mind but they run a crap sevice in any case!!
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Post by westyorkshirebus on Jul 18, 2008 16:04:37 GMT 1
First is becoming to much of a monopoly, its about time oft stepped in!! I wouldn't mind but they run a crap sevice in any case!! and do what exactly?. First West Yorkshire are smaller now than Yorkshire Rider were! It's not First's fault that no independants are running in Leeds |
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Post by jackh on Jul 18, 2008 18:55:42 GMT 1
Well look at Geldards, they didn't put much effort when competing with First in both cases with the shortlived 752 and 69 services.
If the OfT were to have stepped in and questioned First's large market share of the Leeds road public transport services, they would have done when they had taken over the goodwill of Black Prince. They didn't fine them over their anti competitive agreement that they made with Arriva on you back off here, we back off there so we're both happy.
And lets look back to 1986 when Deregulation was occuring when the aim was to provide a better bus service to the public with any man and his dog approach was used to people running bus services. Should someone of said to WYPTE back then that the main operator in West Yorkshire, Yorkshire Rider that was set up to be sold off into private ownership was too dominant and that it would reduce competition in the county and be broken down further, probably not. So this is the mess that some of you like to call it that we're left with.
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riclam
Forum Member
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Post by riclam on Jul 18, 2008 18:58:51 GMT 1
First is becoming to much of a monopoly, its about time oft stepped in!! I wouldn't mind but they run a crap sevice in any case!! and do what exactly?. First West Yorkshire are smaller now than Yorkshire Rider were! It's not First's fault that no independants are running in Leeds First only needs to have more than 23% market share to be classed as a monopoly as with any company!! Its about time to be honest local places had their own bus companies ie local authorities not just some large company that cares for nothing but shareholders! First having more than 23% market share is bad for the customer, it lowers choice, however, some cases as in leeds or bradford this is unavoidable but still they should offer a better service!! Yorkshire rider weren't all that good neither, especially around huddersfield and halifax, that though is irelevant to this as is yorkshire rider. reregulate the bus industry and lets say goodbye to cowboy outfits and fat cat compnaies like first and arriva |
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Post by jackh on Jul 21, 2008 18:32:01 GMT 1
First Leeds have applied stickers on nearside windows showing all the multi-journey tickets available from the bus.
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kendall17
Forum Member
Justice for the 96!
Posts: 4,514
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Post by kendall17 on Jul 21, 2008 20:25:35 GMT 1
First Leeds have applied stickers on nearside windows showing all the multi-journey tickets available from the bus. i only noted these on the Bramley Geminis or are these on every depot's buses? |
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Post by jackh on Jul 21, 2008 20:45:15 GMT 1
Well I have only noted them on Bramley based so far. At first, I thought they were only applying them to the ftrs but then a Strider I was on this evening had a sticker on too.
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Post by westyorkshirebus on Jul 21, 2008 21:07:07 GMT 1
First Leeds have applied stickers on nearside windows showing all the multi-journey tickets available from the bus. Are they like previously, lots of circles stuck allover the place at different angles? |
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Post by jackh on Jul 21, 2008 21:10:49 GMT 1
No, it is rectangular with all the possible tickets you could buy.
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kendall17
Forum Member
Justice for the 96!
Posts: 4,514
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Post by kendall17 on Jul 21, 2008 21:40:39 GMT 1
looks smart, easy to read only when the bus is at a standstill could speed things up for the passengers boarding the buses so they know what they're asking for!
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Post by jackh on Jul 22, 2008 8:54:28 GMT 1
There is also the sticker on the driver's cab door with all the multi-journey tickets available. It doesn't mention the Metro Bus DayRover though with the new (well re-introduced) Leeds Weekly Ticket and FirstDay Family.
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