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£1 for Edinburgh bus ticket.. now that's a fare deal



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Published Date: 17 April 2008
By ANDREW PICKEN and NEAL PARSONS
BUS passengers can avoid the recent fare rises by using on-street ticket machines, it emerged today.
The standard Lothian Buses adult single fare increased from £1 to £1.10 on April 6.

However, passengers using any of the 30 pavement-based ticket machines across the city centre can still get an adult single for £1, because the machines have not been updated.

More than 60,000 tickets have been sold through the machines – which are in place in Princes Street, Leith Walk and parts of Bruntsfield and the Southside – since they were installed last autumn.

Lothian Buses today insisted it had intentionally pegged the on-street fares to £1 in a bid to encourage people to start using the new ticket machines.

A spokesman for the firm said the idea was consistent with its policy of making pre-purchased tickets the best value.

But Councillor Ricky Henderson, the city's Labour transport spokesman, said that the firm should make this clearer to bus passengers.

He said: "This has certainly come as a surprise to me and it does look a bit like it has happened by accident rather than by design. I can see the advantage of trying to give people incentives to buy the tickets before boarding the bus.

"But there may well be some people who feel aggrieved about this because they are excluded from using the machines just for geographical reasons as they are mainly in the city centre.

"However, I suppose most people will need to get used to these ticket machines because they are going to be in use for the trams."

The ticket machines are similar to the city's existing pay-and- display parking machines but branded in Lothian Buses' traditional red livery.

As they do not give change, passengers still need to have the exact money. The two most popular machines have been in Princes Street, opposite the Waverley Steps, and at the Foot of the Walk, in Leith.

There are 750 ticket machines fitted to buses, in addition to the 30 on pavements.

When the city's £498 million tram line opens in 2011, all tickets for the airport to Newhaven line will have to bought in advance.

Ian Coupar, marketing director of Lothian Buses, said: "Where possible we try to encourage our customers to buy their tickets in advance of boarding the bus.

"Pre-purchased tickets have always represented the best value, in a similar way to our Ridacards and city singles."

The Lothian Buses price rises were blamed on increases in tax and fuel costs.

Other factors affecting a near £4m shortfall faced by Lothian Buses include a Scottish Government freeze on a rebate to transport operators used to cover rises in fuel duty.

Lower than expected levels of compensation to cover the cost of free travel for pensioners was also said to be a factor in the increase.

• www.lothianbuses.com/tickets


The full article contains 493 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 17 April 2008 1:54 PM
  • Source: Edinburgh Evening News
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: Transport , Lothian Buses
 
1

Bob 2,

17/04/2008 11:17:41
sounds like LBs have made a bit of boob with this one.

At the end of the day, Someone has to go round in a Van and collect the money from the machines.
2

Grumpy,

17/04/2008 12:16:22
"However, I suppose most people will need to get used to these ticket machines because they are going to be in use for the trams."

Oh no they won't, since most people south and east of Princes St won't be using the trams - and that's where "most" bus users live.
3

Duncan in Edinburgh,

17/04/2008 12:32:21
#1 You're right, and that makes it completely impractical doesn't it. Let's never do anything new ever, ever again because it's too hard, too different, won't work, or isn't perfect.

And that goes for you as well, Grumpy.

Christ, how did we go from being the cradle of the enlightenment to the coffin of the fearful?
4

Sods Law,

EDINBURGH 17/04/2008 12:41:26
Thats good, thehas to wait for people to buy a cheaper ticket, "just wait a minute driver"
5

Steven P,

edinburgh 17/04/2008 12:45:37
#3
Pre-paid bus ticket machines announce the rebirth of the Scottish Enlightenment. Scholars from all over the world to flock to Edinburgh's Lothian Road to witness passengers save 10p on the city's buses.
Personally, I havent yet identified what benefit these machines offer (the concept isnt exactly state of the art) - the driver still checks each one usually with suspicion - it saves no time whatsoever.
Whats the advantage #3?
Lets face it LRT made a screw-up (or have bought machines that cant handle 110p fares). If it was intentionial, dont you think they would have sung and danced about it when they were taking pelters about the increase.



6

The Genuine Mario Antoinette,

17/04/2008 12:52:02
5 So you reckon that LRT have gone and bought machines without software that can be changed and that its hardwired only to take a pound ?

Of course they are being economical with the truth here, and there's a slight cockup but , nah.

7

mig,

Edinburgh 17/04/2008 12:54:16
#1 - You're wrong - the money is NOT collected by someone in a van. Beneath each machine is a little pipe that runs all the way to Lothian Buses HQ. The coins roll down the pipe into one of those coin counting machines.
8

alex patersons English teacher,

17/04/2008 13:01:23
bob2, I herd collection is first thing in the morning,Steady with the Capitals in future.
9

The Genuine Mario Antoinette,

17/04/2008 13:02:18
7.... operated by Oompah Loompas.

They sing songs about buses as they go about their funny deformed midget business.

All the coins are heaved onto a shetland pony and taken to Ukios Bankas , then go down the tube to Gorgie.
10

thehitmaster,

Penicuik 17/04/2008 13:03:54
It emerged today? Anyone who has read the 'bus fares' leaflet available before the fares went up would know this already.
11

Dunaskin,

Edinburgh 17/04/2008 13:04:37
A colleague tells me that you can get '21 for 21' blocks of tickets. 21 tickets for £21, from the LRT place (wherever that is - used to be Waverley Bridge?) Makes sense if you're a regular bus-user.
12

The Genuine Mario Antoinette,

17/04/2008 13:05:11
If you are wise you will listen to me
Just pay a pound not the extra ten pee

i need to get a life.
13

Cramondo,

Edinburgh 17/04/2008 13:07:21
#2 Have to say that Grumpy is well-named.

Pre-payment(including by smart card that you can pre-load, like Oyster in London, not just LRT season ticket as now) is the way to go.

The other thing worth knowing is that at the LRT shop you can buy a book of 21 tickets for £21 which saves a bit of cash, and no need to find the right money.

I live East and expect I'll get a faster journey through the city centre if I change to a tram when I get to Leith Walk. But then I'm not grumpy about trams. Trams will go South too eventually, once Line 1 proves to be a success and the Stagecoach Party get booted out of "government".
14

Incandescent,

17/04/2008 13:07:31
#3 Duncan

Get back to work! Oh, wait a minute.. I forgot you're just amusing yourself until a political story appears and you can actually do what you're paid for.
15

Cramondo,

Edinburgh 17/04/2008 13:08:56
#11 beat me to it, must learn to type faster. Shop in Hanover St.
16

alex patersons English teacher,

17/04/2008 13:15:53
12
now your taking the piss
17

Duncan in Edinburgh,

17/04/2008 13:25:01
#14 You misunderstand. I'm funded by a shadowy quasi-political group which supports gay rights, opposes the SNP's LIT policy, supports trams, opposes unnecessary car use, supports congestion charging, opposes the Catholic church, supports the SNP's justice policies, opposes independence, supports Lothian Buses, and opposes the tabloid editorial line of the Evening News.

I'm a lone sniper at the centre of a conspiracy; an establishment figure not afraid to rock the boat; I play by the rules, but laugh in the face of the dreadful spindly killer fish.

God help anyone who thinks I get paid for this stuff.
18

mig,

Edinburgh 17/04/2008 13:28:56
#17. Can I join your gang? I like the cut of your jib and would be prepared to act as an advisor or public relations consultant. I have no experience in either field.
19

Incandescent,

17/04/2008 13:37:08
#14 - Well you're certainly not doing any other work, as you so often claim. You were on here yesterday with your usual opposing line, posting continuously for 9 hours throughout the working day.
20

DannyB,

Edinburgh 17/04/2008 14:07:05
The fact that these new machines - nor the buses - give change is tantamount to robbery, especially given that they both have shovel-loads of change in them so LRT aren't having to pay for change.
21

Duncan in Edinburgh,

17/04/2008 14:12:22
#19 I should point out that I have what you perhaps see as an unfair advantage, in that I type my messages using a keyboard having thought them through using my brain, a process which takes but a few seconds per posting.

I imagine it is substantially more difficult for you, what with the headwand and everything.
22

The Genuine Mario Antoinette,

17/04/2008 14:14:07
Some of can multitask amazingly well. You wouldnt believe some of the things i've already achieved today.

Having said that its time like this when you have to stop and realise that youve wasted a little part of your life writing and showing concern about bloody bus ticket machines.
23

Baroness Fortitude III,

17/04/2008 14:14:13
This has to be one of the least interesting discussions I've ever seen on the internet.
24

Duncan in Edinburgh,

17/04/2008 14:15:17
#18 You're hired!

I think we should probably invest in a black van with red highlighting. I reckon Mario could be kept in a series of secure institutions and only rescued for missions. I will need some cigars, and a dinosaur outfit. Jump to it!
25

brettgallacher,

edinburgh 17/04/2008 14:17:34
great idea this, streets clogged up with the building of the biggest white elephant since the brothel that is the scottish parliament building, put the fares up 10% wait three weeks for a bus to come then it goes the wrong way due to said works, anyone want to buy my car as i really dont need it now
26

,

17/04/2008 14:17:38
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason:
27

i a n,

Edinburgh 17/04/2008 14:20:27
"But Councillor Ricky Henderson, the city's Labour transport spokesman, said that the firm should make this clearer to bus passengers.

He said: "This has certainly come as a surprise to me and it does look a bit like it has happened by accident rather than by design."

Maybe try looking at Lothian Buses bus fares leaflet?
28

The Genuine Mario Antoinette,

17/04/2008 14:26:25
25 brett you forgot to mention Poles.
29

The Genuine Mario Antoinette,

17/04/2008 14:27:23
26 this is all getting a bit post modern for my liking. If imitatino is the highest form of flattery you can blow me if you want to.
30

plord,

edinburgh 17/04/2008 14:32:03
Prepaid tickets available from newsagents etc. for all transport within the city might work. Ask London or Paris.
31

Darren :-),

Edin city but on ma way to ibrox 17/04/2008 14:43:16
"When the city's £498 million tram line opens in 2011"... oh come on, who really belives it will cost £498m...Double it and maybe
32

SERENDIPITY,

Edinburgh 17/04/2008 14:50:59
Not sure what the problem is. Why not just pay by direct debit at £35 per month? Saves using the machine and hunting for the 10p! I work in town and even if just using LRT 5 days a week this makes a saving. Maybe that's where the extra 10p per journey is going... In fact, don't use it, you'll probably all cost me more money next year when they raise the DD!
33

Incandescent,

17/04/2008 14:53:55
#21 Duncan

Given the scope of subjects you seem to consider yourself qualified to post on and the amount of data you bring up for each, I imagine that if you were in fact using nothing more than your brain to formulate your responses, the input device would more likely be a mouth controller.
34

Duncan in Edinburgh,

17/04/2008 15:01:32
#33 "if you were in fact using nothing more than your brain to formulate your responses ..."

Okay, I'll come clean. I use my pancreas for gay rights campaigning, my liver for anti-car diatribes, the bones and tendons in my left leg for public transport pricing concerns, my right big toe for trams and roadworks, and my nose for business. Oh, and my backside for independence.
35

Incandescent,

17/04/2008 15:17:39
#34 Duncan

You merely reinforce the already obvious fact that you are constantly monitoring for responses to your posts rather than working. As to your feeble attempt at sarcastic humour, the "other" in question is, as you well know, Google et al, the implication being that if you held all the data you spout on these boards in your brain, you'd be an intellect equal to Steven Hawking, which of course you are definitely not.
36

Duncan in Edinburgh,

17/04/2008 15:29:40
#35 Do you have any idea how ridiculous you sound?

You've now moved on from claiming that I'm paid to post here, to telling me I should be working instead of posting here. Which is it?

On top of that, you seem to think that using Google to find information instead of keeping it in my head is somehow cheating?

The bottom line is that you apparently don't agree with some of my views, cannot forumlate rational arguments against them, and are so desperate to undermine me that you resort to this inane cyber-stalking and scattergun accusations.

Well you know what? You just carry right on, because I quite enjoy it.
37

JT,

17/04/2008 15:40:14
Still doesnt stop people holding up the bus looking for the extra 10p. Look people its 1.10 now get your money ready before getting on the bus. Its not if you havent been told enough times. They have even got stickers on the bloody buses at the on the windscreen!!
38

The Genuine Mario Antoinette,

17/04/2008 15:44:56
Listen the lot of you.

That's really quite enough about busfares.

enough has been said about busfares.
39

Incandescent,

17/04/2008 15:45:52
#36 Duncan

Thanks for corroborating my first point at #35 and, of course, I don't "sound" anything at all on here, but that's another matter.

You claim to work, which seems highly implausible, unless patrolling these boards is your work, so I bounce back to you your question, "which is it?"

The bottom line is that you're opinionated, pompous and condescending to those who don't agree with you. You very much deserve to be undermined.
40

Duncan in Edinburgh,

17/04/2008 16:08:15
#39 Right. Thanks for getting to the point. You don't like me, so you throw baseless accusations at me. Good for you. I hope you don't waste too much time doing it.

How many times do I need to answer your "question"? Endlessly until I give the answer you want? Yes, I work. No, I'm not paid to post here. Yes, I am smart enough to do both. Happy? I doubt it.
41

wolfette,

Edinburgh 17/04/2008 16:34:52
bit unfair to people who have to board buses out of the city centre, where there are no on street machines.

Also, it's not as if buying your ticket before boarding a bus saves any time what-so-ever, as the bus drivers don't know what to do with those machine tickets. Most just look at you as if you're daft or trying to diddle them.
42

Incandescent,

17/04/2008 16:56:48
#40 Duncan

Firstly, I don't know you so would not presume to dislike you, but you certainly project a pompous and inflexible online personality and seem to adopt an opinion designed to rile most of the posters on a very high proportion of subjects. Some might say you are a "troll". I don't waste too much time on checking posts as you will see by the delay in responding, unlike you.

Yes, I demand you give me the answer I want. Nothing less will suffice. It doesn't have to be endlessly, just cut to the chase and give it once.

You may be "quick" enough to do both, but either the output or quality of your work must be sacrificed due the amount of the working day, which is far from insignificant, you spend posting, researching and pa"troll"ing your previous posts.
43

Duncan in Edinburgh,

17/04/2008 17:23:17
#43 In fact quite often I agree with a lot of people, so your assertion there is provably false. I don't agree with a number of key SNP policies, nor have any liking for a number of SNP politicians, and it is that which tends to bring down the idiot masses on my posts.

You do seem to want the answer endlessly, because you have asked me again in this post! Your opinion is based on an entirely false premise. While I do sometimes get engrossed in an article's comments, and spend more time than I should debating with folk, that is actually pretty rare. I mostly interweave my commenting within my work with very little impact on the quality of either.

I'm sure I come across as pompous. That's because I am pompous. You come across as prone to leaping to conclusions and believing in conspiracy theories, and unable to accept what people tell you as the truth. I wonder if that is because you are.
44

Incandescent,

17/04/2008 17:41:12
#45 Duncan

It must have been agonising for you to wait 25 minutes before responding - I salute you, sir.

"Provably false"? Now, now Duncan. Every regular poster knows what your M.O. is. It's not just SNP stories, it's practically everything. I think I've agreed with you twice in the last few months and admitted as much.

So, to the crux of the matter: with the term "very little impact" you at least admit that there is an impact of some kind. You also admit that you're pompous, the honesty of which I can respect. That'll do for me.

Leaping to conclusions is I think something we are both guilty of from time to time, though I would not say I'm "prone" to it. The allusion today to you being paid to post was necessary to jog the appropriate response, which worked like a charm.

In the words of Stewie Griffin: "victory is mine!"

45

Incandescent,

17/04/2008 17:44:13
#45 - I forgot to add that I will no longer heckle you at every opportunity, just the ones I disagree with.
46

Euan,

Edinburgh 17/04/2008 17:52:41
I wonder if TIE will push for the introduction of a £4 coin?

I mean it would make things so much easier for people who wish to purchase a one-way tram ticket from these silly ticket machines.
47

EnEm,

EDINBURGH 17/04/2008 18:47:30
There's an even more convenient, more efficient, fairer and altogether better option that, bafflingly, no-one ever considers.... No Tickets!

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/free-buses/
48

,

17/04/2008 18:50:47
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason:
49

Duncan in Edinburgh,

17/04/2008 18:55:48
#46 I congratulate you on whatever you think you have achieved, and I hope you have someone on hand to give you a suitable prize. Can't say I recognise your name particularly as a persistent heckler, except today, but I'm delighted that you intend to be marginally less pointless in future.

In the words of Peter Griffin: "Attention restaurant customers: Testicles. That is all."
50

your friendly surveyor,

Edinburgh 17/04/2008 21:38:16
No wonder prices have gone up. We seem to be subsidising a fleet of 10 yellow and brown minibuses which drive, empty, from the Airport to Leith and back every 10 minutes of every day. This must be costing £1000 every day with an income of £100? Cooncil economics rule.
51

is it me?,

Edinburgh 17/04/2008 22:39:57
I'd just like to say that I haven't read a single one of the 52 comments on this article.
52

micky,

edinburgh 17/04/2008 23:04:43
blimey , 53 posts & most of them vile bile !!!
is this a record ? pistols at dawn perhaps for D & G !
getting back to the bus article (remember that !) I continue to wish an advance purchase of any type could be used for both bus companies, I am reluctant to buy a day ticket or a pass (saving money & time for me & driver) if I am restricted to one or other, why cant they put customers first & agree a common ticket ?
53

Bob 2,

17/04/2008 23:29:13
Duncan

think your missing the point.

The ticket machines are there to get people used to them for the Tramline.

But they are supposedly there to speed up boarding times, yet the driver still has to check the ticket.

If you've ever been on a LB bus, you'll find that the single fare is still one of the quickest ways of getting a passenger on a bus
Watch the time it takes to check a ride a card on the machines or check a day ticket.

A number of the machines of course have been placed too close to the "Bus Stop", making it hard for wheelchair users to get on the bus, via the ramp!
54

Redbeard Rum,

Mumbo Jumbo Land 17/04/2008 23:35:28
Posting from the position of a long-term lurker on these boards, I have to thank one contributor for his candid and succinct efforts.

Despite his false invocation of the deity at post #3.
55

Steve-o,

Edinburgh 17/04/2008 23:46:29
#10 - exactly.

All that emerged today was the EN reporters(seems this story took 2 newshounds to sniff it out) from under the rock they were residing.
56

Navvy,

18/04/2008 02:21:21
Pathetic, absolutely pathetic.

When will Lothian Buses drag themselves out of the 19th Century and into the 20th?

Any system worth its salt, even transport for London uses prepaid stored value cards which are simply tapped on the pad on entry and leaving and which give a discount on the cash fare. The cost of the retro on-street machines would have gone a long way to a modern system

57

BigKennyMac,

18/04/2008 16:06:59
LRT - what a total embarassment. Get the Strathclyde buses in here - now.

Big Kenny Bluenose
58

Mr G saunders,

Cramond 24/07/2008 20:17:12
'Mr BigKennyMac' I would venture to say to you that after having now won Best Bus Company in Britain four times that LOTHIAN BUSES (NOT LRT, AT LEAST TRY TO GET THE NAME RIGHT!) are hardly a "total embarassment" unlike your rambling ill informed comments!!

 

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