Is it fair that children pay full fare? (From Bournemouth Echo)
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Is it fair that children pay full fare?
7:30am Monday 1st February 2010 in
IT’S been one of parents’ biggest bugbears for decades.
Now a bus company is considering scrapping the rule that means youngsters are forced to pay adult fares on their way to school.
Wilts & Dorset does not allow child fares to be issued before 9am Monday to Friday, except in August when schools are closed.
The policy has been criticised by parents who have accused bosses of cashing in on children at times when they have no choice but to use the buses.
Now, for the first time since 1973, the company is inviting comments on its charging policy and is considering making changes, possibly as early as next month.
Parent Euan Douglas from Colehill told the Daily Echo he was shocked when his 10-year-old daughter, Sia, was charged £2.80 to get to school and back.
“She said they would not give her a child fare so I assumed they had made a mistake and contacted the company” said Mr Douglas.
“I was shocked to discover that this is policy. It has been designed to get as much money as they can but it is ridiculous that a child is not a child until 9am.
“Children would be late for school if they waited until they could get reduced fares. This is terrible when the government is trying to encourage people to use public transport.”
Wilts & Dorset public relations manager Chris Harris said the company is inviting comments via its Facebook page.
He said: “Since June 1973 full adult fare has been charged for all journeys before 9am on Mondays to Fridays because of the high number of people travelling at that time.
“However, we are currently examining our fare policy with a view to making child fares available at all times. Improvements are likely to come on stream during February 2010.”
Comments posted on Facebook so far favour child fares all day every day and the age limit for child tickets to be raised from 14 to 18.
Yellow Buses said under-14s can get child fares before 9am, and so can under-18s, if they present a CitizenCard.
Child fares are valid all day but not issued after 10pm.
Comments(44)
mikey2gorgeous
says...
8:21am Mon 1 Feb 10
sashabubble
says...
8:26am Mon 1 Feb 10
why should kids have to pay to use the bus to go to school anyway?
jobsworthwatch
says...
8:30am Mon 1 Feb 10
It costs me £1.10 for a 3 min bus ride to the town centre, hardly good value.
rayc
says...
8:36am Mon 1 Feb 10
sashabubble wrote:Well of course they shouldn't but what do you expect from Government and Council non joined up policies. They have all these schemes to force drivers out of their cars but no school free travel.
yes, it should be half price. why should kids have to pay to use the bus to go to school anyway?
What are they doing about the hundreds of families in Creekmore where there are no schools due to poor planning? Children as young as 4 are having to go to schools in Corfe Mullen and there is no bus service between. Even if there were would you send an unaccompanied 4 year old on the bus? It is leaving parents with no option other than use the car.
traindriver3ss
says...
8:51am Mon 1 Feb 10
l'anglais
says...
9:10am Mon 1 Feb 10
This unfortunately wouldn't work in the UK, 1. They don't like paying taxes (a bit like rain, can't see the point) 2. What would be the point of owning a 4x4 unless its to take the nippers off to school?
mikey2gorgeous
says...
9:17am Mon 1 Feb 10
traindriver3ss
says...
9:54am Mon 1 Feb 10
jobsworthwatch
says...
10:27am Mon 1 Feb 10
traindriver3ss wrote:I disagree with trandriver3ss, I'm not a lazy git!. It takes 12/15 mins to walk so only use it if its raining or in a hurry or got things to carry. Think for a second, if you can! lol
i disagree with jobsworthwatch!! if he is paying £1.10 for a 3 min bus ride why doesn't he walk?? a 3 min bus ride must be well under a mile!! Lazy git!!!!! lol
patrick stack
says...
10:34am Mon 1 Feb 10
chridrum
says...
10:36am Mon 1 Feb 10
The attutude of some senior citizens (travelling free) towards young people sets a poor example.
I would like to see free travel for all children in full time education up to 19 as in London. This would encourage young people to use transport and reduce the number of cars on the road. It has worked in London now roll it out across the country.
Come on Echo take this on for our roads and young people.
traindriver3ss
says...
10:40am Mon 1 Feb 10
BmthNewshound
says...
10:43am Mon 1 Feb 10
jobsworthwatch
says...
10:57am Mon 1 Feb 10
jak flash
says...
12:19pm Mon 1 Feb 10
I ran behind a taxi and saved $4 30.
nikkip71
says...
12:22pm Mon 1 Feb 10
dave.h
says...
12:30pm Mon 1 Feb 10
Perry_Winkle
says...
12:32pm Mon 1 Feb 10
jak flash wrote:$4.30?? Were you in New York at the time?
This morning my little mascot os ran behind the bus to school and saved £1 90. I ran behind a taxi and saved $4 30.
Niki1
says...
12:40pm Mon 1 Feb 10
Limestone
says...
1:21pm Mon 1 Feb 10
jak flash
says...
1:38pm Mon 1 Feb 10
Perry_Winkle wrote:No I'm here in Bere Regis, the grandchildren have been here from Wales on my PC its always the same, I get € signs, sometimes I get Yens ¥ and $ I get confused ,I don't recognise the kids half the time, especially the ones wearing turbans, I do love them though, and treat them all the same.
jak flash wrote: This morning my little mascot os ran behind the bus to school and saved £1 90. I ran behind a taxi and saved $4 30.$4.30?? Were you in New York at the time?
poolebabe
says...
2:12pm Mon 1 Feb 10
teeheehee
says...
2:37pm Mon 1 Feb 10
jak flash
says...
3:00pm Mon 1 Feb 10
I said to the driver 'I only want to watch' he gave me his Rolex and drove off.
tt52
says...
3:21pm Mon 1 Feb 10
Limestone wrote:Why should the tax payer subsidise bus companies.Bus companies are in buisness to make a profit, if their not then something is seriously wrong with the way they are being run.
I'd prefer there was a subsidised flat fare for all journeys (say £1) that everyone had to pay and that car parking was raised to pay for the subsidy. I for one would switch to using the bus if this was the case. I recently travelled on a Yellow bus for the first time in years and was surprised that I was one of only 4 people on a 30 minute ride who paid full fare. Bus companies have to cover their costs and unless they receive funds from tax payers how else can they do this without charging for the service they provide? I'm sure the local bus company bosses would love to hear from anyone can come up with an alternative!
They moan because passenger numbers are declining, the main reason for this is cost.
When will companies realise that if you charge less then you can make more money due to increased use.
The main article is about childrens fares, this country must have the most unfair system when it comes to childrens charges.
At 14 years of age they are charged adult fare but in the eyes of the law they are not adults till the age of 18.
They cant smoke till their 16, they can drive a car at 17 but cant drink till 18.
The whole lot is a mish mash of laws to allow money grabbing parasites to extract more money from our kids.
In my view if they are not adult till their 18 then they should not be paying adult fares full stop.
rook
says...
3:24pm Mon 1 Feb 10
I think anyone over 65 should get all 'public' services free, but children are more than capable of walking to school.
David01
says...
3:55pm Mon 1 Feb 10
djd
says...
4:48pm Mon 1 Feb 10
Fire_fly
says...
4:55pm Mon 1 Feb 10
I said to the driver 'I only want to watch' he gave me his Rolex and drove off."
Briants Puddle very amusing.
I've never been on a bus in Bournemouth but I bet the drivers are far nicer than the most miserable people in the world. That is London Bus drivers.
fedupwithjobsworths
says...
4:57pm Mon 1 Feb 10
rayc
says...
5:44pm Mon 1 Feb 10
rook wrote:If the bus company goes bust where does that leave the councils Transport Strategy? The only way they get money from the Government is by being their lap dogs and their tool for the introduction of Work Place Parking Levies, Congestion Charges and eventually Road Pricing.
A bus company should be allowed to charge whatever it wants to make a profit and pay the staff salaries and whatever dividends it may have if it has shareholders. If it charges too much then people won't use the bus, so the company loses money and folds. I think anyone over 65 should get all 'public' services free, but children are more than capable of walking to school.
rayc
says...
5:48pm Mon 1 Feb 10
What even the 4 year olds that live in Creeknmoor but have to go to school in Corfe Mullen because the town Hall planners didn't provide a school on Creekmoor when is approved the plans for building an estate of that size?
Jimmy Grange
says...
6:41pm Mon 1 Feb 10
jak flash wrote:jak flash. The problem you are having with your PC is that the keyboard is not set to UK. If you have a software disk for your keyboard you can reconfigure with that. If not, Control Panel, Keyboad. Set to "United Kingdom"
Perry_Winkle wrote:No I'm here in Bere Regis, the grandchildren have been here from Wales on my PC its always the same, I get € signs, sometimes I get Yens ¥ and $ I get confused ,I don't recognise the kids half the time, especially the ones wearing turbans, I do love them though, and treat them all the same.jak flash wrote: This morning my little mascot os ran behind the bus to school and saved £1 90. I ran behind a taxi and saved $4 30.$4.30?? Were you in New York at the time?
stephen magill
says...
6:50pm Mon 1 Feb 10
To whom it may concern
says...
6:54pm Mon 1 Feb 10
Perhaps if everyone paid the same then fares for everyone would come down!
fartington
says...
9:12pm Mon 1 Feb 10
The Sage
says...
10:31pm Mon 1 Feb 10
so ending the school run driven by parents in 4x4 or other vehciles bet the bus companies would hate it.
Cyberbia
says...
7:37am Tue 2 Feb 10
Yet again, another own goal!!!
jak flash
says...
9:14am Tue 2 Feb 10
rook
says...
10:56am Tue 2 Feb 10
rayc wrote:I'd say the private bus company couldn't care that they mess up the council's policy while trying to run their own business. It's either a council service in which case it's subsidised by us all or it's private so they can do what they want.
rook wrote:If the bus company goes bust where does that leave the councils Transport Strategy? The only way they get money from the Government is by being their lap dogs and their tool for the introduction of Work Place Parking Levies, Congestion Charges and eventually Road Pricing.
A bus company should be allowed to charge whatever it wants to make a profit and pay the staff salaries and whatever dividends it may have if it has shareholders. If it charges too much then people won't use the bus, so the company loses money and folds. I think anyone over 65 should get all 'public' services free, but children are more than capable of walking to school.
As to whom it may concern suggests, it's really quite illogical expecting cheaper prices for children anyway - it's just a nice thing that some businesses choose to do. Even that great children's restaurant McDonalds offers children's meals, but would not give an adult meal to a child for half-price.
As for the 4 year olds in Creekmore, I agree that something needs to be done. I'd agree with those suggesting dedicated school busses with local pick-up points. They can then be fairly funded out of council tax (although whether that's fair on people who choose not to have kids is a different matter).
purple elephant
says...
8:39pm Tue 2 Feb 10
To whom it may concern wrote:....because they don't earn money? They are children for goodness sake. Most other countries provide free public transport for school children. But, of course, the UK is full of anti-family misery guts like you!
Why should children get half fare, they sit in a seat, the bus uses the same diesel, road tax etc to transport them. All costs should be equally paid by all users and not subsidised by others. Why should I have to pay more which is what it would boil down to. Perhaps if everyone paid the same then fares for everyone would come down!
This government have decided children must remain in full time education until 18. It is high time the bus companies recognised this. Most pensioners are substantially better off than me, yet I am expected to pay full fare for my child to travel to school? This would cost £18 per week. Cheaper to drive!
rotcoddam
says...
9:49pm Wed 3 Feb 10
The point we should be campaignng for is that public transport should be at a reasonable price for all users. Then nobody would need concessions, kids or pensioners.
We might also get some of the cars off the road as well, if public transport was not so ludicrously overpriced
Zer0
says...
1:47am Fri 5 Feb 10
Because if all I used was the bus and train to get me around it would work out the same or only a tiny bit cheaper than what it costs me to run a car. Its a no brainier really especially young people like me who want there independence of where and when to go.
The public transport here is crap I have had no encouragement to use it. Charging full fare for children on school runs just pushes parents to drive their kids.
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pinkfeather says...
7:54am Mon 1 Feb 10