tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7432323264902617108.post4658532437752817419..comments2024-03-25T22:17:35.616+00:00Comments on Public Transport Experience: Clopper, Clipper, Freebee, 3B, Gone [3]fatbusblokehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06833340546527596517noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7432323264902617108.post-35376377226689283962014-03-18T13:57:02.349+00:002014-03-18T13:57:02.349+00:00Valid points of course, dwarfer1979; my view is th...Valid points of course, dwarfer1979; my view is that, within the PTE budget, the cost is small change. Also, city traders might say that they already pay too much in business rates and, again, the cost of continuing is far less than many other, less directly useful, so-called "services".fatbusblokehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06833340546527596517noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7432323264902617108.post-24948219916064327182014-03-18T08:47:53.746+00:002014-03-18T08:47:53.746+00:00Not sure it is quite as cheap as people are trying...Not sure it is quite as cheap as people are trying to make out to provide the FreeBee. 3 buses working an intensive, city centre route (so very poor mpg figure comparatively) over what amounts to a 12 hour day with no fares income coming in to cover costs is not cheap, you'll be lucky to see much deal of change from £500k a year - so nearly a million pounds a year for the two routes I assume - it would be interesting to see the price to see how sharp Firsts pencil was when they submitted the bid and how much operators in Sheffield wanted the contract (the more operators want a contract the lower margin they will accept and the cheaper the price will be). With tightening standards on reliability (particularly if reliability is as bad as you suggest which would indicate that a fourth vehicle is really needed) and removal of BSOG (Fuel Duty Rebate) from free services the costs are only going to be increasing which, during a time of austerity, is going to be hard to support as there is no chance of increasing revenue to cover the increased costs as it is a free service.<br /><br />There is nothing to stop the city centre traders, if they believe that they will bring in more money with it than it costs to run, to fund the operation of the services themselves either directly through a deal with an operator or indirectly by funding SYPTE to keep it going. You often find that while businesses are happy to benefit from taxpayer funded largesse to bring in customers and will complain loudly if they are selected for withdrawal they are rarely prepared to find the services themselves to keep them going. An exception is a number of the big supermarkets who do find free bus links to their out of town superstores but they do it relatively cheaply with off-peak work using local school buses rather than this sort of intensive all day service which is very expensive to provide.dwarfer1979noreply@blogger.com