Bus Éireann Drivers Need to be Educated on Integrated Ticketing...

awhooley · 17-11-2007 2:50pm #1

I recently moved back to my hometown of Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, I decieded to commute to college in Dublin from now on, I found on the Bus Eireann website that you could purchase a "Giant Hop" weekly ticket for €69 euro per week, covering Irish Rail, Dublin Bus, AND Bus Eireann as far as Mullingar, Dundalk, Gorey, e.t.c. "Fair enough" I said, thats great value to me!, so I purchase this ticket.

I use the rail service and its fine and the Dublin Bus and its fine, but when I board a Bus Eireann bus, they look at the ticket and they look as if they have never seen the thing before, and many of them stated that: "Sorry, they dont work on Bus Eireann" Then I have to explain to them how it works and in the end they say "I am letting you on just this once" this angres me because they advertise the f**in ticket on their website and the drivers dont even know that these tickets exist!!!

Has anyone ever had this expierence before?, because it angres me that I have to explain to the driver for approx 5 mins what the f**in thing is every time I use this ticket on a Bus Eireann bus! and Its quite embarrising too!

John R · 17-11-2007 6:21pm

I've used the weekly giant hop tickets lots of times over many years and have never had any major problem with drivers.

The odd time I have gotten drivers who don't know what it is but they generally just read it for a few seconds and accept it without arguement.

Were the drivers that caused a problem Bus Eireann drivers or hire-ins? If it was the latter then I'm not surprised as some of them barely get trained on the wayfarer machine never mind a full briefing on all the tickets and passes they can be presented with.

BE drivers should be made aware of the tickets as part of their training but it wouldn't surprise me that some aren't. In some cases it may just be that they have been driving years without ever seeing them.

Unless they have changed the ticket stock in the last year they should be printed on special stock that has BE, DB and IE logos on the front and clear text on the back that states the ticket is valid on all DB, BE and IE services within the zone.

Slice · 18-11-2007 11:33am

That ticket sounds like brilliant value - does it work on Luas too?

awhooley · 20-11-2007 3:12pm

sadly no, they don't, but for 69 euro per week, that works out for me at 8 euro per day, and normally the train/bus to dublin from mullingar is approx 16 euro and 15 euro respectively, and thats only for a day return! then add the dublin bus which i use about 4 times a day, 1.40 each that adds to over 20 euro per day so this ticket is approx saving me 12 euro per day!

awhooley · 20-11-2007 3:16pm

John R wrote: »

Were the drivers that caused a problem Bus Eireann drivers or hire-ins?

Nope, they were Bus Eireann Staff and they were with Bus Eireann for years and that is what annoys me more, I dosen't bother me that they dont know what the ticket is, but what really annoys me is when they freak out and they think i am trying to evade the fare, makes me feel nervous when I try to use the bus:mad:

Victor · 20-11-2007 4:55pm

Does it have the Bus Eireann logo?

John R · 20-11-2007 7:17pm

awhooley wrote: »

sadly no, they don't, but for 69 euro per week, that works out for me at 8 euro per day, and normally the train/bus to dublin from mullingar is approx 16 euro and 15 euro respectively, and thats only for a day return! then add the dublin bus which i use about 4 times a day, 1.40 each that adds to over 20 euro per day so this ticket is approx saving me 12 euro per day!

This ticket ought to also be available through the taxsaver scheme which would cut the price almost in half, if there was a monthly/annual available it would be but for some reason they changed it from a monthly to a weekly some years ago.

You could do your commute for less by getting a monthly/annual taxsaver Mullingar-Dublin point-to-point rail and a monthly/annual Dublin Bus. You would lose Bus Eireann travel though.

Without the taxsaver the two annual tickets would be €3010 (€2230 + €780), with the maximum tax refund they would be just €1595.

awhooley wrote: »

Nope, they were Bus Eireann Staff and they were with Bus Eireann for years and that is what annoys me more, I dosen't bother me that they dont know what the ticket is, but what really annoys me is when they freak out and they think i am trying to evade the fare, makes me feel nervous when I try to use the bus

It shouldn't be something you need to worry about. They are clearly BE/IE/DB tickets and on the back it should state that they are valid on BE. If it happens again show them the back of the ticket and if they still argue then demand they contact an inspector.

You shouldn't have to put up with the "I'll let you away with it this time" (but I really think you are lying) line. Take a note of the times and bus number if it happens again and either have a word with one of the inspectors if you are in Busaras or send in a letter. You are paying for a valid ticket and you shouldn't have to feel intimidated by the prospect of having an arguement with staff that are ignorant of their job.

John R · 20-11-2007 8:06pm

Victor wrote: »

Does it have the Bus Eireann logo?

Yes. Pretty obvious that it is a BE valid ticket if you ask me.

See if you can spot what is wrong with that ticket, something that none of the numerous BE or IE staff that inspected it noticed.

Victor · 20-11-2007 8:18pm

2006?

Are you using it at the moment? Was it issued this month?

AlekSmart · 20-11-2007 8:24pm

€29.20......? Good Value there ? :eek:
Also can`t quite make out the Ticket Type but "Day Something etc etc....."

Victor · 20-11-2007 8:42pm

AlekSmart wrote: »

€29.20......? Good Value there ? :eek:
Also can`t quite make out the Ticket Type but "Day Something etc etc....."

I think its "7 DAY RAIL BUS SHORT HP" printed on a giant hop ticket.

Shenanigans?

cargo · 20-11-2007 8:59pm

Is it that there's no "Zone" nominated on the ticket????

Victor · 20-11-2007 9:06pm

cargo wrote: »

Is it that there's no "Zone" nominated on the ticket????

Short Hop / Giant Hop would be the zone.

John R · 20-11-2007 9:36pm

Victor wrote: »

I think its "7 DAY RAIL BUS SHORT HP" printed on a giant hop ticket.

It is indeed. The IE ticket office clerk didn't know how to issue a Giant Hop ticket, that's how rare those tickets are.

I went to a large suburban Dart station and asked for the Giant Hop weekly. After a puzzled expression the bloke remembered that he had seen something like that around somewhere and went off searching. A few minutes later he came back with the correct blank and issued the ticket and asked me for €29.90. I told him that he had made a mistake and that the ticket should be €69 but he insisted it was correct. I could see that he wasn't going to change his mind so I left with my unofficial discount.

IE staff do seem to have a problem issuing anything that is out of the norm, to be fair that guy tried his best and was polite about it but still it shouldn't be so difficult for IE staff to be able to issue any available ticket properly.

AlekSmart wrote:

Also can`t quite make out the Ticket Type but "Day Something etc etc....."

"DAY RAIL/BUS SHORT HP" The "7" is also missing :rolleyes:
It is very faint, only barely legible. If it had been properly printed someone might have noticed it was the wrong ticket.

Bus Éireann Drivers Need to be Educated on Integrated Ticketing...

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