Location Transport - UK: Who else thinks bus fares are a rip off?

UK: Who else thinks bus fares are a rip off?

I live in Bristol, ENG. The bus fares here are a complete and utter rip off - it is cheaper to buy a day ticket, than to buy a single or return ticket!! What I don't get, is the government and people say things need to be done about Global warming, but for starters, they don't care about Public Transport! - If they made bus fares a lot cheaper, more people would use them! I thought in London, the bus/tube fares were really cheap. I don't see why it can't be like that all around the country. On Buses in the South West, you can get a ticket for £6.90 or something which is called a "FirstDay South West" which lets you travel from places like Bristol to Lands End. But, I doubt you could do that in a day just on "First" buses. Also, who else thinks they are really unreliable? cheers

Public Comments

Yeah I live in Cambridge half the year and it's cheaper to buy a day ticket than any returns and most single fares. The buses here are pretty reliable though, it must be said. However, the other half of the year I live in a town in South Wales, and the buses there are so awful I just don't even bother with them. If I need to get out of town I use the train, but that's so extortionate, even with a student card, that I usually spend more on my train ticket than I do wherever I'm going. I completely agree that its sending out very mixed messages to tell people to reduce their carbon footprint and then allow public transport prices to keep skyrocketing.
Same in good old bedfordshire, £2.60 is a day ticket. £1.70 to get into town! And the same price back, and thats a child! :( utter rip offf, im 16 and still lie about my age for cheaper tickets!
Difference of opinion here. It costs £27.50 to make a return journey every day for 6 days on the BUS (Bristol). Whereas it cost me £60 to do the same journey, over the same period by CAR. A lot of people don't use the bus on a regular basis because of the verbal abuse by certain people - the same lady has said loudly to me 'Why don't you hurry up and die' (that is the polite version of what she has said), 4 times this year already, in front of other people.
Yes definitely, I always get a day saver which is £4 because it's cheaper than paying two singles which are usually £2+ for the really short journeys.
The bus companies soon latched on to these higher fares when the disabled and over 60s got their free bus passes. Each journey is a single one and guess who uses the buses most during the day time? 00
Where I live, to get to the nearest city is £4 return (7 miles). Which is cheaper than driving and parking, but the price keeps edging up every six months or so. But if you work it out, it's still cheaper to get the bus (and train if you get the tickets in advance). I don't have a car so don't have a choice but would rather pay for bus fares and not have to cough up for MOT, tax, insurance, maintenance, petrol etc etc. I was recently in Cornwall and the First Bus service was amazing! Double deckers going through tiny little villages and down the lanes. Scary but better than driving.
It's still a lot cheaper than the petrol you would use though. I'm a big fan of public transport and it is very good in the Merseyside region. The government is very limited in what it can do to interfere since Maggie deregulated the industry. Even local councils (which have more of a say) are a bit restricted.