Dublin Bus Prepaid Ticket Price Rise

stop

http://www.dublinbus.ie/en/News-Centre/Travel-News/Revised-Prepaid-Fares/

From Monday 6th September - 30 day adult rambler rising by €5. Other increases vary from 50c upwards.

Don't like that they announce something like this on a Saturday.

I also feel they should be encouraging people to use prepaid tickets over cash fares, it speeds up boarding, and eliminates the coin sorting costs.

Their customer numbers dropped sharply last year, they need bums on seats, this will not help.

Cookie_Monster

not only is it a Saturday announcement, its only 2 days notice too. :mad:

I'd love to know how they think they can justify such rises in the current climate of recession, deflation, removing drivers, buses and routes thats reducing costs considerably anyway.

Hopefully the gov may pick up on this matter to deflect attention away from NAMA & banks and get something done about it.

AlekSmart

Hopefully the gov may pick up on this matter to deflect attention away from NAMA & banks and get something done about it.

Interesting point Cookie_Monster,which illustrates yet another big-fat-fudge in Public Transport terms.

Pre-Paid ticketing is the only revenue collecting area which remains within the control of the Company itself,thus it can alter the price structure without reference to anybody.

However,that said,for those who are still required to pay,Dublin Bus continues to offer the lowest fares of any Public Transport mode in the city and it`s fare levels generally remain amongst the lowest in any mainstream EU Capital.

Unfortunately,even now after the inception of the National Transport Authority and whatnot we still do not appear to have anybody capable of marketing its benefits.

antoinolachtnai

I think you will find Prague is cheaper.

I don't think that it's a matter of marketing it. At core it is not a good enough service for a modern city.

The service Dublin bus provides on the whole is not good. It is only worth the fare it currently attracts. It is all very well to blame other bodies, but at core the service is not good enough. This is despite massive investment. There are some good parts of the service for sure but the general picture is not bad. It is all very well to promise improvements in the future but these have been promised many times before.

devnull

One of the selling points for the Travel 90 ticket over the years is it has provided good value for people who are traveling medium to long distances on Dublin Bus.

If you either used multiple buses in your commute of fares of 1.80 or above, you always got an advantage by using this ticket, which was sensible marketing, especially when the changed the handy pack to a 10 journey ticket.

Now however, by increasing the price to 18.50, it has now meant that the many people who use the ticket for a journey of standard cash fare of 1.80 instead of using coins, are now going to be better off going back to coins, as the price per journey is now 1.85, more expensive than the standard cash fare.

Whilst I have no problems with many of the increases that are relatively minor, the person who agreed to increase this ticket has just driven a further group of passengers back to cash fares, like the ones who were driven back to cash fares after the 2-easy tickets were withdrawn.

Stark

Yup, and the more people who pay in the cash, the more the service deteriorates.

Shelli2

Totally, I never understood why they got rid of the standard travel 10 cards, if I remember correctly you could get one of those for any of the fares?

My bus journey only costs me 1.60, I'd much prefer to use a ticket over cash, but there are no ticket available for that fare.

AlekSmart

It is all very well to promise improvements in the future but these have been promised many times before.

Well with Joe Meagher departing in November,perhaps it`s an opportune moment for a headhunter to speak to Antoin ???

angel01

I am not happy with the luas and bus charges going up :mad: but I have no other option but to use them.

Why do they keep attacking prepaid cards, why not try and encourage people to use the cards rather than paying in cash. Yet more money I will lose in my salary :mad::mad:

They are already saving money by route changes/alternations, removing drivers and whatnot, what gives them the right to put up the price?

cute_cow

stop wrote: »

http://www.dublinbus.ie/en/News-Centre/Travel-News/Revised-Prepaid-Fares/

From Monday 6th September - 30 day adult rambler rising by €5. Other increases vary from 50c upwards.

Don't like that they announce something like this on a Saturday.

I also feel they should be encouraging people to use prepaid tickets over cash fares, it speeds up boarding, and eliminates the coin sorting costs.

Their customer numbers dropped sharply last year, they need bums on seats, this will not help.

thank you for letting me know!! I would have been heading to the train station in the morning with just €34.50, and not €36.00 that it is changing too.

I also agree that 2 days notice is not good enough. There have been no signs on buses to state that the prices are increasing, but it seems it works out cheaper for me to just use money on the bus now. Makes no sense!

Saruman

antoinolachtnai wrote: »

I think you will find Prague is cheaper.

That is an unfair comparison because almost everything is cheaper in Prague. Czech Republic is not a Eurozone country. The standard and cost of living are a lot lower there. That is almost like saying the public transport is cheaper in India.

Is it only prepaid tickets? What about smart cards? Would it be a ploy to make people move to the smart cards and eventually to integrated ticketing?

mrsdewinter

devnull wrote: »

One of the selling points for the Travel 90 ticket over the years is it has provided good value for people who are traveling medium to long distances on Dublin Bus.

If you either used multiple buses in your commute of fares of 1.80 or above, you always got an advantage by using this ticket, which was sensible marketing, especially when the changed the handy pack to a 10 journey ticket.

Now however, by increasing the price to 18.50, it has now meant that the many people who use the ticket for a journey of standard cash fare of 1.80 instead of using coins, are now going to be better off going back to coins, as the price per journey is now 1.85, more expensive than the standard cash fare.

Whilst I have no problems with many of the increases that are relatively minor, the person who agreed to increase this ticket has just driven a further group of passengers back to cash fares, like the ones who were driven back to cash fares after the 2-easy tickets were withdrawn.

I still think €18.50 is good value for those tickets. I take 2 buses to work in the morning. Without the Travel 90 ticket it would cost me (€1.80 + €1.60 €3.40 to just get to work. Even at €1.85 (€18.50 /10), I'm still saving money.

Really, if you're taking more than 1 bus trip on your journey to your destination, you're still coming out ahead of the game.

Plus, €18.50 is still a reasonable-sized investment for what you get. Finding €105 (or even €100) for the 30-day Rambler ticket is a big outlay. With a price that is just below €20, it's easier to spring for it on a Sunday evening when I'm picking up a pint of milk for the following morning.

It's annoying that they make the announcement on a Saturday though. Remember a few years ago when Dublin Bus hiked their fares twice within about nine months? Hope this isn't a sign of things to come...

Agent J

Forgive the Cynic view...

Looking at the student prices...

Its the start of september and they do this with 2 days notice....

Nice way to make some quick extra cash.

Cookie_Monster

angel01 wrote: »

I am not happy with the luas and bus charges going up :mad: but I have no other option but to use them.

They are already saving money by route changes/alternations, removing drivers and whatnot, what gives them the right to put up the price?

I emailed them with that very question. Don't expect a reasonable response but will stick up anything I do get.

antoinolachtnai

Saruman wrote: »

That is an unfair comparison because almost everything is cheaper in Prague. Czech Republic is not a Eurozone country. The standard and cost of living are a lot lower there. That is almost like saying the public transport is cheaper in India.

[/QUOTE]

It wasn't a comparison. It was an example of a mainstream EU capital where the bus fares are lower than here.

If you start looking at purchasing power parity (for example using the table at http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/48/18/18598721.pdf) our bus fares don't look great at all compared to backwaters like Madrid, Paris or London.

Mind you, if raising the fares was the key to better quality bus services, I'd be all for it. The problem is, it isn't.

Craig Fay

Would it be possible they're raising fares as they realise Network Direct will end up more watered down than they intended, so have to find another way to bridge the deficit?

Saruman

antoinolachtnai wrote: »

It wasn't a comparison. It was an example of a mainstream EU capital where the bus fares are lower than here.

If you start looking at purchasing power parity (for example using the table at http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/48/18/18598721.pdf) our bus fares don't look great at all compared to backwaters like Madrid, Paris or London.

Mind you, if raising the fares was the key to better quality bus services, I'd be all for it. The problem is, it isn't.

Yes but my point was it as not an example that should have been made. If you are going to make your point then compare like with like. As you just pointed out Madrid, Paris or London are perfect examples because all are at similar levels of wealth and spending power for the consumer. London may not be a Euro currency user but London is comparable to Dublin.

The Czech republic on the other hand is way below. My wife lived there for a year and she earned the equivalent of €7000 a year, a sum I was making in about 3 months. If I remember correctly, you could get a 7 day all in one transport ticket in Prague for a little over €7 and beer from about .50c now this was in 2004/2005 and I know transport has gone up since then but I imagine it is still much cheaper, along with almost everything else.

I am not sure why you posted a link about purchasing power for currency though. It is not relevant to the cost of living in a city that I can see, though I am no economist so if it is then I stand corrected.

I am not disagreeing with you saying it is too expensive here, I am just saying you should not be pointing out a country as an example of somewhere cheaper that has a cost of living level as low as that.

In London for instance a single journey on a bus is more expensive than here at £2 if paying cash. However if you use the Oyster card it is cheaper at £1.20 and there is a daily cap of £3.90 so if you apply that scenario then I see London as being cheaper than Dublin and of course with a far superior transport network.

I hope to see improvements when the integrated Bus, Luas, Dart and maybe commuter rail services are integrated in to one smart card and there should be serious savings. If there are no savings then... well it would be a load of crap.

I love the idea of a daily cap. I hope that comes in to play over here.

markpb

I know these increases are, by and large, tiny but the increase in the cost of 90 minute tickets is unbelievable. I know DB are experiencing severe financial problems but it really feels like their finance department is running the show and they're missing the bigger picture. Removing the 10 trip tickets, then the 2 trip tickets and now reducing the scope of the 90 minute ticket is unjustifiable. They will look at their books and see extra cash coming in but they won't see the extra costs from increased dwell and journey times. They won't see customers deciding it's not worth taking the bus if it means having to amass a small collection of exact change each week to get to work.

hmmm

Typical semi state response to falling customer numbers & income, they believe that simply increasing prices will fill the gap.

I waited 70 minutes tonight for a bus that is supposed to arrive every 20 minutes. No wonder customers are deserting them.

AlekSmart

I waited 70 minutes tonight for a bus that is supposed to arrive every 20 minutes. No wonder customers are deserting them.

Hmmm, would this have been on a route passing by or near Croke Park by any chance ?

Yakuza

I love the way they used the word "revised", rather than "increased".
They're not even consistent across the rates they used - 2.78% on the Travel 90 while it's 5% on the 30-Day rambler. What was their thinking, I wonder - "Lets gouge more out of the folks who can shell out €100 at a pop".

As already pointed out on this thread, if they'd left the Travel 90 alone, folks would still use it even if they only used the one bus to get to where they're going, now they're better off paying in cash and this will only deteriorate the service even more. Nice little own goal there, DB.

While it's still decent value for money (€3.50 a day when I could spend over €5 on cash fares) I think the 2-day notice period was a very cynical move. If I'd known before today the prices were going up I'd have bought two (one for the missus as well) and saved ourselves a tenner.

antoinolachtnai

Saruman wrote: »

Yes but my point was it as not an example that should have been made. If you are going to make your point then compare like with like. As you just pointed out Madrid, Paris or London are perfect examples because all are at similar levels of wealth and spending power for the consumer. London may not be a Euro currency user but London is comparable to Dublin.

Well, someone said that Dublin's fares were cheapest for a mainstream European capital and I countered with this. It still seems correct that (a) Prague is a mainstream European capital and (b) has cheaper bus fares than Dublin.

I am not sure why you posted a link about purchasing power for currency though. It is not relevant to the cost of living in a city that I can see, though I am no economist so if it is then I stand corrected.

It's not purchasing power for currency. It's a comparison of the purchasing power of the same amount of money between different countries. It puts a number on how much cheaper it is to live in (say) Prague. For sure we are heading into geeky economist stuff here, but hey, you started it!

Heart

AlekSmart wrote: »

Hmmm, would this have been on a route passing by or near Croke Park by any chance ?

I'd well believe if it was... I got a 16a yesterday evening at 5.40pm at Kelly's Corner, we got to Dorset Street/Eccles St. junction at 6pm and passed Drumcondra Railway Station at 6.50pm! If it hadn't been raining I probably would have walked!

H

AlekSmart

Antoinolachtnai posted.....

Well, someone said that Dublin's fares were cheapest for a mainstream European capital and I countered with this. It still seems correct that (a) Prague is a mainstream European capital and (b) has cheaper bus fares than Dublin.

That someone was indeed I,but I was careful not to make a definitive statement about Dublin Bus offering the lowest Fares of a mainstream EC Capital.

However,that said,for those who are still required to pay,Dublin Bus continues to offer the lowest fares of any Public Transport mode in the city and it`s fare levels generally remain amongst the lowest in any mainstream EU Capital

Heart posted....

I got a 16a yesterday evening at 5.40pm at Kelly's Corner, we got to Dorset Street/Eccles St. junction at 6pm and passed Drumcondra Railway Station at 6.50pm!

Antoin has taken some pains to suggest that the situation experienced by Heart (and many other DB passengers) was in some way a cunning Dublin Bus plot to break its PSO contract.

Contracts,PSO or otherwise,had no bearing whatever on this situation.

As an aside Heart,what other general observations would you,as a passenger,make on the journey you experienced...

Would you,for example consider that the stretch from Dorset St/NCR Road via Drumcondra Station to Whitehall was conducted in a safe driving environment ?

Would you also have any comments on whether or not your Busdriver performed with any degree of competency or otherwise,given the prevailing circumstances ?

Would you consider,as a passenger,that you were needlessly inconvienced or is it something which you accept in the spirit of sportsmanship ?

Heart

I don't blame the driver at all for what happened, in fact he was very helpful to passengers. It occurred because the three lanes of traffic on Dorset St. were be directed up single lane Whitworth Road... 3 into 1 doesn't go, or at least not quickly anyway.

While Dublin Bus buses were allowed to continue ahead past Whitworth Road, getting to that point was impossible!

If the bus lane from Eccles St. to Binn's Bridge was kept clear and operational then buses could get to the Whitworth Road junction and onto the clear section after...

H

AlekSmart

If the bus lane from Eccles St. to Binn's Bridge was kept clear and operational then buses could get to the Whitworth Road junction and onto the clear section after...

Hearts simple observation on this regular occurrence really should be written down in BLOCK CAPITALS and Pritt-Stuck to the forehead of every member of the "Team" responsible for the Croke Park Traffic Management Action Plan as referenced to in the GAA glossy brochure for the venue.

I`m assuming that Heart is not a Rocket Scientist or Brain Surgeon but just somebody who has to deal with these situations without being able to escape !!

antoinolachtnai

No I did not say there was a cunning plan, just that DB had failed to provide the promised services.

Cookie_Monster

antoinolachtnai wrote: »

No I did not say there was a cunning plan, just that DB had failed to provide the promised services.

how do you know they failed to deliver the services, the buses may very well have left on time and have been on the route, just delayed by circumstances beyond their control (Croke Parks useless traffic plan)

antoinolachtnai

The report on traffic conditions at the heart of the problem above, with timings only accounts for a delay of 30 minutes, or 40 minutes at most. The delay complained of was a 70-minute headway, which means a bus somewhere was at least 50 minutes and more likely 60 minutes behind schedule.

Presumably the buses failed to depart at the correct time for their return and later trips? These return trips could have suffered longer, compounded delays and this might account for the 70-minute headway.

Whilst the congestion was unavoidable, it was certainly not unforeseeable. There was no good reason why return trips could not have been covered either by extra vehicles, or simply by warning customers that some trips would be cancelled.

sock puppet

What a joke. Two days notice for these "revisions":rolleyes: and they don't even bother to explain why the increase is necessary.

honru

Yeah, I headed down to Dublin Bus on O'Connell Street on Friday to buy 2 30-day Ramblers and the cashier told me that they were going up in price on Monday. I thought that was odd because I check the DB site now and again and didn't hear anything about a price increase. Would have bought more but my transaction was already processing. :mad: