Dublin Bus €3.60 2Easy bus tickets gone

The Denouncer

My wife uses the bus but works strange hours (she's a chef). Some days she's on, some she's not. She travels from Swords to Drumcondra (20 stages I think) and used a €3.60 2Easy bus ticket.
She asked me to buy some for her and thought they may have increased to €3.70..but I could not get them for love nor money, €3.20 was the max. The same on the dublinbus.ie website, the maximum 2Easy is €3.20 (8 to 13 stages).
We got in touch with Dublin Bus and they told us that the €3.20 2Easy ticket is the highest one out there, and not only that she cannot use the €3.20 one for > 13 stages. So what is she meant to use? She often get the bus into work and sometimes the taxi home. No ticket suits her and she won't always have change available.
I think its a scam. The single fare is €1.90 - Dublin Bus want you to give them the €2 that most people would have in their pocket, and earn an extra 10c on each and every poor soul who live more than 13 stages from their destination. the Rambler is useless, there's no other transport at the moment in Swords except for the bus, so I'm very disappointed with Dublin Bus - the transport is appalling as it is and this is further squeezing the life out of people who live in the distant suburbs.
By the way she doesn't drive. Not everyone does.

Dublin Bus - FOR SHAME.

Alun

She should get the Travel90 tickets .. €17 for a book of ten, which works out at €1.70 per journey, a saving of 20c over the standard fare.

eve

Alun wrote:

She should get the Travel90 tickets .. €17 for a book of ten, which works out at €1.70 per journey, a saving of 20c over the standard fare.

You got there before me. Travel90's are the way to go. Travel for up to 90 minutes for 1.70 and there's no limitation on the number of stages.

More info here http://www.dublinbus.ie/fares_and_tickets/daily.asp

The Denouncer

Travel90 eh? It wasn't clear from the webpage exactly what that was and the Dublin Bus guy who contact us never mentioned that as an alternative. Grand I'll pass that info onto the wife!:)

ad hoc

Travel 90 allows you to travel for more than 90 minutes: the rule is that the last validation of the ticket has to occur with 90 minutes of the first validation.

Again, the Dublin Bus site (http://www.dublinbus.ie/fares_and_tickets/daily.asp) is ambiguous, but its the 'How to use?' piece that's right.

Validity? Unlimited travel within 90 mins of first journey on all Dublin Bus services except Airlink, Nitelink, Tours and Ferryport Buses. This Handy Pack contains 10 individual travel 90 tickets. The tickets are valid for six months from the day of purchase.

I.D. Requirements? You do not need any I.D. to use this ticket.

How to use? Ticket must be inserted into the bus validator on boarding, the final journey must commence within 90 minutes of first validation.

Alun

You're right .. I use them sometimes to go into Dublin from Bray, and if I'm extra quick doing whatever I have to do in town (i.e. <30mins!) I can get there and back on one ticket!

AlekSmart

At this point as we await Mr Dempsey`s take on Electronic Ticketing,we should be engaged in tidying up the present mess with or without "Departmental Sanction".

Make the T90 the STANDARD Bus Ticket and make them available in single form from suitably positioned AVM`s.

Make it valid for 2 Hours and if necessary charge €2 for them if bought singly and €1.80 in "Value Pack" format.

Cost has always been well down the list of Public Concerns regarding the Bus Service.
RELIABILITY
FREQUENCY
USEABILITY.

Combine the 3 and you can charge whatever seems appropriate ! :eek:

And remember Mr D,YOUR Dept of Transport has recently become aware of the existance of some form of Tunnel linking the Swords Road area with the City Centre region and is "Actively Considering" numerous applications from Bus Operators for service improvements to your area...so all YOU need do is remain "Actively Awaiting" the results of the Dept`s Activity.....Ok ? : )

Slice

I think its a scam. The single fare is €1.90 - Dublin Bus want you to give them the €2 that most people would have in their pocket, and earn an extra 10c on each and every poor soul who live more than 13 stages from their destination

I don't think they're allowed to use any additional monies collected as "earnings". As far as I'm aware the money goes into a community fund if not reclaimed and is invested in various social and community projects...

Nevyn

The travel 90s sound good but there are time the journey into town takes that long and I have been trying to buy a pack of travel 90s on and off in the blanchardstown shopping centre for the last 4 months.

Alun

Thaedydal wrote:

The travel 90s sound good but there are time the journey into town takes that long and I have been trying to buy a pack of travel 90s on and off in the blanchardstown shopping centre for the last 4 months.

That doesn't matter .. it's got nothing to do with how long the entire journey lasts, it just means that you have to start the last leg of your journey within 90 minutes of the first validation of the ticket.

I've had no problems getting the tickets either, got the last lot in my corner shop here in Bray. You can always get them in the DB offices on O'Connell St. if necessary.

jjbrien

Slice wrote:

I don't think they're allowed to use any additional monies collected as "earnings". As far as I'm aware the money goes into a community fund if not reclaimed and is invested in various social and community projects...

Nope Olivia Mitchell brought this little gem of the change tickets with DB the moeny does not go anywhere. Its all sitting in DB Hq waiting to be collected. It will be there for a long time before they decide to give it to charity or do something with it. I think there should be a box on the bus that you can put your cahnge tickets into to give the money to charity.

Blush_01

Those travel 90 tickets are fantastic. On a Sunday evening I can get from Maynooth to UCD for €1.70. Obviously it's better to start the shorter/quicker leg of your journey first, but as long as things work well for you with regards traffic, they can be very, very inexpensive when compared to the real price of your journey.

Great for grocery shopping too. Hop on the bus and even if it's just a €1.40 journey away you save over €1.

Nevyn

Alun wrote:

That doesn't matter .. it's got nothing to do with how long the entire journey lasts, it just means that you have to start the last leg of your journey within 90 minutes of the first validation of the ticket.

I have been on the 39 bus on occasion for 90 minutes.

Alun wrote:

You can always get them in the DB offices on O'Connell St. if necessary.

That assumes that I am in the city centre when that place is open.

Stark

jjbrien wrote:

Nope Olivia Mitchell brought this little gem of the change tickets with DB the moeny does not go anywhere. Its all sitting in DB Hq waiting to be collected. It will be there for a long time before they decide to give it to charity or do something with it. I think there should be a box on the bus that you can put your cahnge tickets into to give the money to charity.

They took a load of uncollected money and "reinvested it in the network" a couple of years ago.

mickoneill30

Thaedydal wrote:

I have been on the 30 bus on occasion for 90 minutes.



That assumes that I am in the city centre when that place is open.

Buy them online. Ticketmaster seem to only charge what they cost (i.e. no usual booking fees).

http://www.ticketmaster.ie/event/18003E5AAA1B396A?artistid=946689&majorcatid=10003&minorcatid=227

KC61

Thaedydal wrote:

I have been on the 30 bus on occasion for 90 minutes.

That would be a tad tricky as the number 30 has not existed for quite a few years and certainly not in the lifetime of the Travel 90 ticket!!!!

I assume you meant the 39, and that is a valid point. I would think that 120 minutes might be a bit more realistic.

Stark

KC61 wrote:

That would be a tad tricky as the number 30 has not existed for quite a few years

Damn you terrorists. You maniacs! You blew it up!

KC61

Stark wrote:

They took a load of uncollected money and "reinvested it in the network" a couple of years ago.

They have certainly not used uncollected change for their investment purposes. However, I suspect that some may be used in the Dublin Bus Community Support Scheme where DB supports worthy causes in all areas of the city.

Most transport operators operating a no change on board policy retain all of the cash and do not offer the change facility that Dublin Bus offers. Either way I would venture to suggest that the system we have is more preferable to the situation prevalent in the late 80s/early 90s where drivers were being attacked on a virtually daily basis and robbed of the takings.

KC61

Stark wrote:

Damn you terrorists. You maniacs! You blew it up!

Nothing quite that dramatic...it was renumbered the 130 and rerouted when it was converted to Imp operation!

Slice

jjbrien: Nope Olivia Mitchell brought this little gem of the change tickets with DB the moeny does not go anywhere. Its all sitting in DB Hq waiting to be collected. It will be there for a long time before they decide to give it to charity or do something with it. I think there should be a box on the bus that you can put your cahnge tickets into to give the money to charity.

I was fairly certain about this point so here is the link to it;

http://www.dublinbus.ie/news_centre/latest_news.asp?action=view&news_id=603

From the DB website:

By operating a bus service throughout communities on a daily basis, Dublin Bus became aware of the number of small groups working in their localities. Dublin Bus established the Community Support Programme three years ago to help these groups, whose work, for the most part, goes unrecognised outside the circle of people they help. This year Dublin Bus has increased the prize fund by €100,000 to €350,000 to support over 50 more non-profit groups than last year. The funds have been raised from unclaimed bus passenger change receipts which have been lying dormant for a number of years.

jjbrien

Slice wrote:

I was fairly certain about this point so here is the link to it;

http://www.dublinbus.ie/news_centre/latest_news.asp?action=view&news_id=603

From the DB website:

Quite correct Depuity Mitchell asked how long the moeny was kept for and they I think they told her 5 years. I could be wrong I head her speaking about this on newstalk with George Hoock. But DB collects more than 1 million euro in change tickets each year. The only give 350,000 a year so that leaves quite alot of cash unclaimed. Wonder where the rest goes?:rolleyes:

John R

Thaedydal wrote:

That assumes that I am in the city centre when that place is open.

The 24hr Spar shop a few doors from the DB office sells them along with dozens of other newsagents in the city centre.

Obviously the place in Blanchardstown that you have tried is not stocking them at all or else sells out regularly, try somewhere else. List here.

AlekSmart

So.....Lets just say Ms Bev Cooper-Flynn approaches Dublin Bus and tells them her altruistic skills are "largely unrecognized outside the circle of people she helps" will some of this fund be distributed to her....???
A type of backhand Bung perhaps...?

I reckon this is a job for Alex Burns of Stokes Kennedy & Crowley !!!

Voipjunkie

jjbrien wrote:

Quite correct Depuity Mitchell asked how long the moeny was kept for and they I think they told her 5 years. I could be wrong I head her speaking about this on newstalk with George Hoock. But DB collects more than 1 million euro in change tickets each year. The only give 350,000 a year so that leaves quite alot of cash unclaimed. Wonder where the rest goes?:rolleyes:

They have to keep it for a certain amount of time as it is officially a liability that could be collected and the change ticket does not have any expiry date.

The money is spent on the community projects already mentioned and donated to charity once the accountants have decided that it is unlikely to be collected.

The easiest thing to do would be to put an expiry of 6 months on the change ticket and then have a range of charities that the money could be divided amongst.

Just for the record DB do not keep the money other than it resting in their accounts as Fr Ted would say

anotherlostie

Again I must thank the boards.ie community for this solution! I have been trying to buy the 2Easy ticket at €3.80 for a couple of months and the shops just 'don't have them in stock'. An e-mail to Dublin Bus went unanswered...

Off to ticketmaster I go!:)

cast_iron

While the T90 is obviously the way to go, no one seems to have an answer as to why there is no e3.80 EZ ticket. The e3.60 did exist, but then magically didn't??

It wouldn't be too bad if you were instructed that the T90 is the alternative, but as the OP said, DB doesn't/didn't relay this info.

I used a T90 once and the validator was broken. The driver proceeded to write the time/date on it. Only when I jumped on the 2nd bus, did the new driver alert me to the fact the old one wrote the current time and not the expiry time on it. Only after an argument was I allowed on (he had a point). Only for the fact it was 7.30am, I doubt I'd have swung it. So be careful!

dazberry

cast_iron wrote:

I used a T90 once and the validator was broken. The driver proceeded to write the time/date on it. Only when I jumped on the 2nd bus, did the new driver alert me to the fact the old one wrote the current time and not the expiry time on it. Only after an argument was I allowed on (he had a point). Only for the fact it was 7.30am, I doubt I'd have swung it. So be careful!

I saw a guy get caught on the Luas with an unvalidated bus/luas combo. He was a foreign guy (not necessarily an excuse) and thought all was good because the bus driver had proceeded to write the time/date on it. Christ it made us look like a little inbred backwater of idiots who can't even get our ticket machines working - he was told to get off, find any bus and validate the ticket and get back on the luas. The whole concept of luas/bus combo tickets to be used on buses first is sick in itself.

Unfortunately the guy got lumped with that narky 'ol wagon that inspects on the redline, man he was talked to like crap - how he was threatened was an absolute disgrace (that was one out of principle I would have taken my day in court just for being spoken to like that) - before of course being told to get off and validate it on any bus.

D.

markpb

dazberry wrote:

The whole concept of luas/bus combo tickets to be used on buses first is sick in itself.

I couldn't believe that the first time I got a combo ticket. I stopped an 11 in Sandyford estate to validate my ticket and hop off again, much to be bemusement of the driver. At the very least I hoped the shop who sold it to me might be able to validate it for me. *rolls eyes*

Heart

If you buy a combi bus/Luas ticket from a Luas ticket machine it doesn't need to be validated on a bus first.

H

Victor

anotherlostie wrote:

Again I must thank the boards.ie community for this solution! I have been trying to buy the 2Easy ticket at €3.80 for a couple of months and the shops just 'don't have them in stock'. An e-mail to Dublin Bus went unanswered... Off to ticketmaster I go!:)

At €3.80 you are better off buying a booklet of 5 one day tickets, although that implies same day journeys.

John R

markpb wrote:

I couldn't believe that the first time I got a combo ticket. I stopped an 11 in Sandyford estate to validate my ticket and hop off again, much to be bemusement of the driver. At the very least I hoped the shop who sold it to me might be able to validate it for me. *rolls eyes*

If it was a LUAS ticket agent then they should have been able to validate it.

There are hundreds of Dublin Bus ticket agents, it would cost a fortune to install validators in every one of them on the offchance that someone will try to use the ticket on a tram first.

Obviously if a shop is within walking distance of a LUAS stop then they should be issuing and validating the lUAS combination tickets.

Looking at the list DB have three ticket agents in the sandyford area, two of which are also LUAS agents. Either you bought it in one of these and they gave you the DB ticket rather than the LUAS one or you went to the shop that is only a DB agent.