Considerately Content With Curtailed Content?
Ii is one of those weekends again.
Saturday morning - coffee with the "girls" mostly older than the fbb's.
Saturday Lunchtime = meal out with Fearnley family - followed by model railway fun etc. and a small domestic firework display. They depart after the ooohs and aaahs.
Evening - son and daughter-in-law arrive for visit till Monday.
Sunday morning - de-coke living room for Fellowship meeting. No church. Skiving off!
Prepare lunch
Afternoon - Fellowship meeting No 1.
Sunday evening - corporate gibbering!
Monday morning - Church Prayer meeting and assist No 1 son with installation of extra lighting over the indoor layout
Assist Mrs fbb with lunch
Afternoon - Fellowship meeting No 2
Early evening - No 1 son and daughter-in-law depart. Gibbering fbbs gently till bed time!
Regular blog readers will appreciate the mini-ness of postings until Wednesday.
Bounteous Benevolence in Bristol
Faced with the onslaught of £2 maximum fare publicity in Merseyside, Manchester and West Yorkshire, fbb had missed its introduction in Bristol. But there it is, just £2! Except that it isn't quite what it seems. It is most definitely NOT a £2 maximum fare in Bristol. It IS a £2 maximum fare in the Bristol Ciy area (and similar for Bath City).
Longer distance fares remain unchanged.
The local press reveals more.
Bus fares across Bristol, Bath and the West of England are changing - with a £2 flat fare for a single journey introduced for the first time. The West of England metro mayor announced the changes today (September 20) and they will be brought in from this coming Sunday (September 25).
But while the price of single fares and returns are being cut, the cost of a day ticket is going up by n60p- and it’s also the end for the cheap ‘three-stop-hop’ ticket.
Inquisitive readers may wonder what the maximum fare in the city used to be before this change.
Indeed, it was ...
£2.20
Maybe such a generous discount may not increase passenger numbers by a significant percentage point.
Of course, the national scheme applies (in theory) from January to March 2023.
No one seems to know what will happen to these various local "initiatives" once the big scheme starts.
How To Join The National Scheme
DaFT have sent out a circular to operators explaining the simple procedures (!!) needed if they wish to join the national and voluntary (:!) scheme. There are statistics to provide.
2019 ticket sales (Jan – Dec)
2022 ticket sales (Jan – Sep)
2022 Farebox revenue (Jan – Sep)
Average trips per ticket (i.e. weekly ticket is used on average 11 times)
2022 and 2023 scheduled services (services operated and mileage)
Larger operators will be expected to provide ticket sales and revenue date across a variety of ticket types, including scholar tickets, the data collection will be simplified for operators with an annual turnover of less than £50m. The DfT ask that operators try to prepare this data ahead of the data collection exercise to ensure it can be completed at a fast pace once the consultants are in position.
There are terms and conditions!
The eligibility of services is still being finalised, however we expect that any single ticket would be in scope, provided that as of 1st September;
The fare is over £2
The route is open and allows any member of the public to board
The service allows free concessionary travel for the entirety of its length
The service is run by an operator with a BSOG number
This is subject to possible change and there are still ongoing discussions regarding DRT. We hope to be able to provide clarification as soon as possible.
So that's all very straightforward.
Would you have staff time to provide all this if you were a bus operator hassled by declining passenger numbers, escalating costs and the general malaise in society.
Answers on a postcard, please to the usual address.
The Maxi-Mini Budget Later This Month
After the shambles of the changing of the "guard" at No 10 and No 11 and almost everywhere else in Government, we are all awaiting the Chancellor's maxi-mini statement in a week.ir so.
Meanwhile, Roger French has been waxing lyrical about all the lovely electric buses presented at the recent NEC show ...
... But the government appears to be preparing us for the cancellation of Sizewell C (nuclear power station) needed to make all the electricity these clean green buses, vans, trucks and cars will need.
And the hint is being hinted that old coal fired power stations will be re-commissioned to cover the shortage of power if (when?) Vlad turns the taps off completely. So, folks, even more pollution to create the green environment we all seek!
It is called joined up thinking!
Of course you could have an even more expensive hydrogen bus which requires even more pollution to make the hydrogen!
Remember the Low Relief Townscape?
Now the layout is moving indoors and upstairs, the street at the back is being deepened with room under the roadway for a hidden siding ...
... seen above in a temporary position. In the tunnel ...
... the two tracks become one. With an electrically powered point and a bit of careful wiring it will be possible to send three trains off to their imagined destinations and call the three back in order. Nice.
With the extra apace now available, a similar cunning plan will apply at 6he other end, beyond the recently acquired Triang overbridge.
The area is currently a junk depository!
How is this for a Model Railway?
It is a sort of over-the-top Swiss Mountain layout without a mountain!
fbb reckons it will be a bit expensive when things fall off!
It is in America, where else?
Next Mini-Variety blog : Sunday 6th Nobember
Is there any guidance on what happens with split registrations on the £2 fare? Usually these have through fares, but technically are they separate services? There's a further complication where what is in practice a through service with through fares (I.e. Lancaster -Skipton) where the split registration includes a service number change. Is the 81/581/580 on the above route, where there are through fares, one service or three?
ReplyDeleteI’m guessing it’s whatever happens with ENCTS cards for example now…? If all the twirlies have to get off and swipe their cards again then an additional £2 fare will be payable, but if they only show their cards once, then only 1 £2 fare is charged….
DeleteI’m guessing there’s also a query at the opposite end of the operating scale… Jim highlights the scenario where one route is registered as 3 (..to get round the rules that supposedly don’t apply any more anyway after brexit) but are still operated by one through vehicle, then there’s ones like the 700.. supposedly 1 through route but in fact 3 different vehicles are required to complete the journey… is there even a through fare from Brighton to Portsmouth now?
ReplyDeleteIsn’t there about to be a £1 fare in Taunton for local journeys, supported by Somerset CC ?
ReplyDeleteAs to the £2 fare I know several operators in the east who will not be joining the scheme because of the admin and red tape. Sadly though it will be the drivers at the coalface who will get the flak from the passengers.
That's what Somerset CC announced would happen but have not heard any updates more recently so still waiting to see
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