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Fares increases
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dbboy


Posts: 201
Joined: Feb 2009
Post: #1
15-10-2009 02:46 PM

As reported this morning travel costs in London will rise significantly and in particular on the buses by 20%, discuss.

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Ex FH Pat


Posts: 112
Joined: Oct 2009
Post: #2
16-10-2009 08:51 AM

This time last year - the cost of the tube from Tooting Broadway to Elephant & Castle using Oyster PASYG was ?1, in Jan 2010 - it will be ?1.30 which is a staggering 30% increase - quite absurd as with gas/electric/water bills also all going up by 40% approx, then you are told no pay rises as there is a recession, well not it appears for TFL/Ultility companys as the share holders will all be getting their nice little bonus at the end of the year, just like the ?18k that the people who are running 2012 are getiing, VIVA LA REVOLUTION

No doubt the train fares from FH/HOP to London are just as expensive yet all the sloane square brigade are still riding around in their Chelsea Tractors and dont give a hoot about the rises on tubes/trains/buses as Boris looks after them, so beware anyone who thinks a Tory government will be good for normal working class people

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Londondrz


Posts: 1,538
Joined: Apr 2006
Post: #3
16-10-2009 09:19 AM

er, the train fares are going up under a Labour government.

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Snazy


Posts: 1,516
Joined: Jan 2008
Post: #4
16-10-2009 09:22 AM

My daily journey is set to rise 20p each way, and if im honest I could not care less. 20p /20% whatever you want to call it is not gonna break the bank. Making it into a percentage is almost blowing it out of proportion.

I hate public transport with a passion, but at the end of the day it still offers good value for money compared to driving. (in most cases)

I have to laugh at the bit about "chelsea tractors". For starters they are driving, so thats not really anything to do with public transport. Also you forget the CC is going up to ?10 too.

Bus fares go up 20p... Quick batter the Tories even though they are not even in power lol. (Yes I know Boris is blue)

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Ex FH Pat


Posts: 112
Joined: Oct 2009
Post: #5
16-10-2009 09:23 AM

Yes i was aware that we currently have a Labour Goverenment - i was saying dont get sucked into the idea that a Tory Government would be good for the Working Class people - think back to the wonderful times we had in the 1980,s with Maggie & Co

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Ex FH Pat


Posts: 112
Joined: Oct 2009
Post: #6
16-10-2009 09:30 AM

Snazy - i dont recall mentioning that they had anything to do with public transport, if you think a 30% increase in travel which my fares would have risen since this time last year up to Jan 2010 is good value for money, then you must have more money than sense, yes the CG is going up, yet the area where they were going to extend it to [i,e west london - tractor country] has been abandoned

Not knocking BJ just because he is a Tory, just stating that it will not be all sugar & honey when they win the next election and is the recession down to Ken Livingstone also

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Snazy


Posts: 1,516
Joined: Jan 2008
Post: #7
16-10-2009 12:08 PM

lol sorry but with the greatest of respect, im not complaining about a 20% or 20p rise, so am unlikely to be upset by a further 10p.
Its not about more money than sense. More... how far could you get by other means of transport for ?1.30 ?

If im not mistaken, fares went drastically down with the introduction of the fixed price journey and the oyster card..... so the pot emptying is kind of understandable.
Add to that things like my journey yesterday with children travelling free, so a school taking up 80% of the bus, and suddenly all these lovely ideas appear to be choking off the supply of money into the companies etc to keep these things going. Someone has to pay.

The reality of it is, its not about a person in power making decision etc, its about funding a service that has recently been financially strangled.

FYI, the area of the CC that you speak of has been in force for a number of years now. And if you look at the consultation properly you will actually find that traffic has INCREASED in central london since the Western Extension was put into place... Why? Simple, because residents are entitled to 80-90% discount. Therefore where it once cost them ?8 a day to drive from West London into Central London, this was dropped to under ?1.. Cheaper than public transport, so they all started driving again.

Not expecting the country to be sugar coated after the next election, its far too much of a mess for that. But this is about London travel fares not national politics.

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Ex FH Pat


Posts: 112
Joined: Oct 2009
Post: #8
16-10-2009 12:15 PM

Maybe the reason that some [ 80% ] of kids travel by bus is becasue they cannot get into their local schools [ see my thread in secondary schools ]

?1 to travel by car from the West - good work if you can get it or if you own a CT

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Snazy


Posts: 1,516
Joined: Jan 2008
Post: #9
16-10-2009 01:03 PM

The kids were on a school trip. With free buses why would schools waste money on coaches. Nothing to do with where they are schooled.

Not sure I quite get the bit about travelling from the West for ?1 Unsure
The ?1 is the reduced CC, not the cost of driving their "tractors"
In short the Western extn had a negative impact on the CC already in place.
Im sure we would all love it if the Lewisham/Blackheath extension had got the go ahead.

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Ex FH Pat


Posts: 112
Joined: Oct 2009
Post: #10
16-10-2009 01:12 PM

Not sure I quite get the bit about travelling from the West for ?1

You were the one who said it had dropped to under ?1 to drive from the West to Central London - hence the reason they had all started to drive again as it was cheaper than public transport

You said that the bus was full due to a school going on a trip, even if they had to pay, they would still use that form of transport, yet you may not get so many kids on the buses if they got into schools near the home instead of having to travel miles & miles

Can you please enlighten me as to whom had the bright idea that you could chose any school regardless of where you lived, I have a funny feeling that it was President Blair [ as he would now like to be called - see i slag off Labout also ], we all know that only one man entered the houses of parliment with good intentions and that was Guy Fawkes - he he he

Suppose i should count myself lucky as i can get the tube/bus or train to work

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Snazy


Posts: 1,516
Joined: Jan 2008
Post: #11
16-10-2009 01:50 PM

Oh I see, its the "you said, I said " game. Confused

I think the context the comment of ?1 to travel into London was said in was self explanitory really. Maybe not though eh.

Quote:
You said that the bus was full due to a school going on a trip, even if they had to pay, they would still use that form of transport, yet you may not get so many kids on the buses if they got into schools near the home instead of having to travel miles & miles


I think you are again missing / avoiding the point.
The children were travelling from their school to a place of interest. Where they live has no baring on the matter at all.
The point is, the school are choosing to use the buses to get out on trips, rather than booking expensive coaches. Therefore 50 seats on the bus go unpaid for.

No idea on the schooling/ location matter, but as I said before its got nothing to do with bus fares really, so irrelivent.

I am inclined to agree with the Guy Fawkes comment... I wonder if he claimed for the gun powder on expences?

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Ex FH Pat


Posts: 112
Joined: Oct 2009
Post: #12
16-10-2009 02:14 PM

If schools are using it to save money - then i think you are correct with the fact that kids maybe should only have free travel at certain times of maybe give them a travel pass if they need to travel a certain amount of miles to get to school - then we maybe would have the ones who get on at one stop, then travel about 30 metres and get off at the next stop - must say they are the only ones who i see getting on & off each morning with a free pass so to speak

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Snazy


Posts: 1,516
Joined: Jan 2008
Post: #13
16-10-2009 03:03 PM

The one stop hoppers drive me MAD! Cursing
Adults and children.
We are living in a country of obese people and wonder why!

Maybe free passes should be taken off people if they get too fat and lazy!

Either way.... ?1.20 is still a bargain if you are travelling from say FH to Vauxhall daily.

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ryananglem


Posts: 167
Joined: Apr 2009
Post: #14
16-10-2009 03:47 PM

I must say that when the fare increases were announced, I was a little annoyed - I recently went to Lisbon - and transport on their metro was significantly cleaner, cheaper etc.

Then I realised that these days I rarely take the train/tube/bus in favour of cycling - and I get to work equally as fast, get exercise and save 80-90% of a weekly pass (10%= when I go out boozing or need to carry something large and do take the train).

So it doesnt really affect me. Hmmm... wondering why I actually posted this then?

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Snazy


Posts: 1,516
Joined: Jan 2008
Post: #15
16-10-2009 07:09 PM

lol I wonder too.

Was it really cheaper? Cleaner is easy to believe really. How much is a trip there then?

I could cycle, but I am a chicken when it comes to how dangerous the roads are for cyclists. So prefer to spend my ?1 (soon to be ?1.20 gosh!)

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psyche9


Posts: 73
Joined: May 2008
Post: #16
17-10-2009 06:08 AM

I have been in the situation (fortunately, not now) where an extra pound a week on fares - or on anything - made a difference. A change that seems small to me now isn't necessarily small to others.

At the time of my misfortune, the price of some basic foods went up, as well as the cost of my railcard; price rises rarely happen in isolation.
I noticed how very few friends were aware of the small, but, to me, significant rise in the cost of milk, for example. One's perspective changes - I remember being astonished that prices were going up so much but no-one seemed to notice. "Oh, I get mine from an organic farm so I pay more anyway" was one comment.

The argument that...
things have been worse once ...
luckily for us got better ...
therefore, it doesn't matter if they get worse again...
is an odd sort of argument. And are we so lucky with our transport costs ?
For those interested in facts and figures:
http://www.cfit.gov.uk/docs/2001/ebp/ebp/key/02.htm

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brian


Posts: 2,002
Joined: Apr 2005
Post: #17
17-10-2009 03:30 PM

Make the children pay.
Result .
1. More revenue
2. Hopefully the 1 and 2 stopd fatties will walk.
Double whammy.

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shzl400


Posts: 729
Joined: Oct 2007
Post: #18
17-10-2009 04:41 PM

Yes, make the children 5+ [/align]pay - half fares, though.

Also reintroduce differential fares for going further e.g. into Zone 1. However, now there are no conductors, this is harder to monitor, so flat fare is the lowest common denominator - idiot proof...

Frankly, a 20% increase is wholly inappropriate, given the current state of the economy and that buses are generally used by the most disadvantaged. I see Boris is blaming previous mis-management (i.e. Ken) for the black hole in the finances. Be prepared for loads more of this kind of behaviour following the forthcoming election.... For goodness sake, Brown is still blaming Thatcher for the current economic woes. Get over it - you've had over 10 years to fix it, if you thought it was a problem - but no, you were happy to ride the gravy train too while it lasted.

(Time for a cold shower again...)

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brian


Posts: 2,002
Joined: Apr 2005
Post: #19
17-10-2009 05:09 PM

I agree half fare Why oh why did Livingstone introduce free fares for kiddies. It is so much harder to now take away but Boris should have the guts to do it.
The children will thank him in the long run as they will be fitter

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michael


Posts: 3,255
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #20
17-10-2009 05:27 PM

And why do people over 60 get free travel?
Many of them are still in full time employment and can afford to pay the same as the rest of us. I can see why people with physical disabilities should be allowed to travel for free, and should be offered seats, but we should stop seeing 60 year olds are any less able than 30 year olds. This is age discrimination.

We should not be charging London children for travelling to school on buses, we should be charging them for travelling to school in private cars.

Buses are still the cheapest way to commute to central London, substantially less than rail fares. But the main reform that needs to take place is not to reduce fares but to allow you to change buses, so that a journey from Catford on the 171/122 costs the same as a journey on the 185. When I used to have a travelcard I once took 4 buses from Waterloo to Forest Hill, changing at E&C, Camberwell, and East Dulwich. The journey was much faster than waiting for 20 minutes in the cold for a 176. Now I PAYG I could not do this journey so I must not miss the last train home.

(3 rants in one post!)

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