Chapelfields bus fare reduced

First has reversed its plan to charge £2 for the trip from Front Street to Chapelfields. The price hike from £1 was widely criticised. Although a short distance, the service is well used by those with heavy shopping to carry. The gradient can be a problem for some.

The new fare will be £1-20p

A similar situation exists in other parts of the CVity including Foxwood, although there, the short hop fare to Acomb has yet to be revised.

We have generally been supportive of the improvements that First have made to their services over recent years.

However, changes to short journey fares seem to be have been driven more by administrative convenience than passenger needs.

NB. Over 50% of bus journeys are made by pensioners using their free passes.

Taxis fares should be reduced York Council FOI response reveals.

The York Council has revealed that – according to a well established agreement – taxis fares should be reduced from April.

Fuel price trends

The Council has – in response to a Freedom of Information request – published the latest index which is used to assess fare level increases.

The formulae was agree in the last decade as a way of stopping the horse trading which took place each year when the taxi trade sought a fares increase.

The table takes into account increases (and reductions) in several costs that taxi proprietors face. These are:

Vehicle Maintenance costs (+2.23%)
Petrol and Oil (-8.76%)
Vehicle Tax and Insurance (+0.51%)
Labour costs (+1.62%)

The bracketed figures show the percentage changes in the period from December 2013 to December 2014

The factors are then given weightings.

The formulae for the fare review now due, indicates a reduction of -0.77% in fare levels is required.

Taxi fare formulae. click to enlarge

The reduction will be the first since 1998 and is almost entirely down to falling fuel prices.

Passengers expecting a bigger reduction will be disappointed as most of the drop in fuel costs has occurred since the beginning of January (and would impact on next years calculation).

A copy of the calculation can be downloaded by clicking here

Passengers will now be turning their attention to local bus companies who have also enjoyed the benefits of lower fuel prices.

It only seems fair that public transport users should share in the benefits of lower inflation.

Some children’s bus fares to double in York

Behind closed doors decision hits number 20 bus service.

Two decisions were taken last week which affect bus services contracted by the Council with Arriva/Transdev in York.

There was no prior consultation with local Councillors or residents before the decisions were published.

The first change will see child fares on the 627/637/647 services increased so that they are “in line with those charged on other local bus services”. The services provide links to Fulford, Archbishop Holgate and Manor schools (from Acomb).

Currently children using these routes pay £1 return. This would be doubled to £2 (saving the Council £19,711)

The increase will be implemented from 1st September 2015.

The Council has promised to “ work with the contracting bus operator (Arriva) to explore opportunities for term pass discounts”

The number 20 bus service which links Tesco, Gale Lane and Front Street with Poppleton, Wigginton and the University will run less frequently.

“Instead of an hourly ‘clock-face’ timetable, additional running time will be built in to the timetable meaning certain departures will be 70 or 75 minutes apart.

Most buses will run from Heslington Hall via University Road and Melrosegate (currently buses run from Heslington Hall via Field Lane, Osbaldwick village, Alcuin Avenue and Melrosegate). School-time journeys will still be routed via Osbaldwick as they carry a number of children from the village to and from Huntington and Joseph Rowntree schools“.

All buses will divert to call at Vangarde Shopping Park (John Lewis etc), providing a new transport link for staff and shoppers. “Providing this link may allow CYC to use some of the Vangarde Section 106 developer funding to offset a proportion of the contract price”.

The proposal will remove the section of route through Heslington East and Osbaldwick except for at school times. The Councils says that, “whilst some Osbaldwick resident are using the service (around 15 passengers per day on average), alternative bus links are available”.

Call for reduction in York bus and taxi fares in wake of 20% fall in fuel prices

Liberal Democrats are calling for public transport users to enjoy the benefits of lower fuel prices.

Bus fares have risen steadily over the last 4 years with park and ride charges increased by 5% in January.

First buses last increased their single fares in September 2013. Some other fares were restructured in the light of falling customer numbers at the same time.

Since then fuel prices have dropped by 21%.

Taxi fares were last reviewed in April 2014. Another review is due next month.

Fuel costs have reduced by 17% since last April.

The Council has been asked under Freedom of Information legislation to release details of the cost assumptions made when approving fare increases.

Public transport providers do, of course, face other costs. These include labour and depreciation costs while maintenance and licensing charges also take a toll. But most of these costs have been stable recently, so passengers will be expecting to benefit.

Lower fares may mean a “win win” for operators with increased passenger numbers making up any reduction in income.

**“Free station bus service is aimed at visitors”**

Yesterday’s announcement that car parking charges would increase in order to fund a “fares free” bus service from the station to the hospital is attracting a growing level of criticism.

Bus users have pointed out that they will have already purchased a “through” ticket when boarding the bus on the first leg of their journeys. The majority of bus journeys are made by elderly concessionary pass holders, who get “free” travel anyway (the bill is picked up by the government).

It seems that the only real beneficiaries of the new service will be visitors/tourists arriving by rail at the station.

Young people offered cheap bus travel over Christmas period

York is making it easier for young people to travel around the city this Christmas with a holiday special offer lowering the price of an All York ticket to just £1.30 for the day.

From Saturday 20 December until Sunday 4 January children aged 11-16 who are travelling with a YOZone card will be able to purchase the reduced price ticket, which will enable them to travel all day on any York bus.

Alongside this new Smart YOZone cards are being sent to young people across the city who are already signed up to the scheme.

The new system will allow for quicker boarding and cut down on the occasional misuse of the cards. People will be able to use the cards as soon as they receive them and all buses will be able to accept them in Smart mode by early 2015.

For more information on travelling in and around York visit http://www.itravelyork.info/

Big hike in fares for Moor Lane car park bus stop passengers

The Council and the bus company have decided that Park & Ride fares won’t be available for journeys from Moor Lane Car Park from Sunday 7 September.

The Adult Single fare to the City Centre will remain at £2, but Park & Ride return fares won’t be available and MinsterCards won’t be valid to/from this stop.

For customers making a return journey, the FirstDay ticket is priced at £3.70 can be used across the whole York network.

This compares to the £2 – 70 standard return Park and Ride fare (which will remain available for anyone willing and able to walk the extra 600 yards along Tadcaster Road to the new car park).

It seems that although this bus stop is now being treated as part of the normal “stage carriage” network, pensioners will also not enjoy free travel. We understand that they will have to continue to pay the standard 80p per journey.

While we are pleased that this bus stop has been retained as it is appreciated by many older residents who live in nearby flats, we think that the authorities are being harsh in implementing what is effectively a 37% increase in fares.

It seems irrational that passengers joining the service at this stop – and using what would otherwise be vacant seats – will be charged more for what will be a shorter journey than those who joined the service at Askham Bar!

York pensioners face 14% bus fare increase

The Council are imposing a 14% increase in fares for pensioner pass holders who use Park and Ride services.

Other passengers also face a 10p per journey increase.

The new fares, which will be introduced on 5^th January, are as follows

Product	Fare	Buy from	Format
Standard Return	£2.60 (£2.70 from 5th Jan)	Bus Driver	Paper ticket
MinsterCard Return	£2.30 (£2.40 from 5th Jan)	Site Office	Stored Value Smartcard
Concessionary Return	70p (80p from 5th Jan)	Bus Driver	Paper ticket
Weekly MinsterCard	£10.40 (£10.80 from 5th Jan)	Site Office	1 Week Smartcard
Monthly MinsterCard	£41.60 (£43.20 from 5th Jan)	Site Office	1 Month Smartcard
Annual MinsterCard	£416 (£432 from 5th Jan)	Site Office	1 Year Smartcard

The York council claimed before Christmas that there had been an increase in bus usage since the summer and put it down to reduced bus fares.

http://www.itravelyork.info/park-and-ride/fares-and-passes

First announce new bus fares

From Sunday 29 September the following fares will apply on First buses in York:

• • York FirstWeek reduced to £12.00 (from £16) – a 25% cut and a saving of £4

• • York FirstMonth reduced to £44 (from £53) – a saving of £9 and now monthly (rather than for four weeks)

• • York FirstAnnual reduced to £440 (from £583) – a saving of £143

• • A new minimum single fare of £1 – meaning all York customers have access to a £1 single fare to somewhere in York

• • York FirstDay prices frozen (£3.70)

First say, “In the summer we talked extensively to our customers and partners in York and have listened to what they have said to us. Value for money was one of the major points raised and with this range of lower and more attractive fares we are giving both new and existing customers the chance to save money when they use First buses on a regular basis.

For those customers who plan ahead there are a range of savings to be made on our week, month and annual tickets. We have also looked at our single ticket structure and have offered some new cheaper fares from just £1 and will publish widely for the first time our simplified single fares structure to encourage new bus users to try the bus.

Our key message, and it came out of the public consultation, is that we should be fair. Some singles are going up but the increases are capped at 20p, while some singles are being reduced by as much as 70p. When people do have increases on singles many will still have an opportunity to pay less by buying a different type of ticket”.

Bus services

First have confirmed the terminus (timing points) where their new Acomb bus services will lay over.

Service 5/5A will terminate at Front Street, (5 at The Marcia Pub, 5A at the Post Office),

The 4 will terminate at Green Lane.

First have promised to improve the prominence of the timetables for the new services on their web site.

We are expecting an announcement about fare levels tomorrow morning. See this web site for details.

Council reject teenagers “ride around for £1” bus fare plea, but First to introduce new student discounts from Sunday.

The York Council is set to reject a petition from local young people who had hoped that the flat £1 “go anywhere” fare available in parts of North Yorkshire would be extended to York.

In May 2013, an 11-16 year old variant of the go anywhere ‘All York’ the ticket was introduced but it was priced at £2.30.

First announce fare cuts for young people – New ticket offers are available for children, young people and students from this Sunday 1 September.

New price list

Child tickets (with an 11-16 YOzone card)

• 80p single and £1.10 return ticket prices frozen

• Day ticket reduced from £2.10 to £2

• Week ticket reduced from £8.50 to £7

• 4-week ticket reduced from £31.50 to £25 (available at PayPoint outlets)

Young People tickets (with a 16-18 YOzone card)

• New maximum single of £1.30 (unless the adult single is lower than that, in which case the lower price applies)

• New day ticket at £3

• New week ticket at £10

Student tickets (University & College)

• New day ticket at £3

• New week ticket at £10

• Term products frozen and now available to college students as well as those at University Valid University Student card or NUS card required.

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