20% cut to fares for all public transport operators from April

thomasj

https://twitter.com/MichealLehane/status/1491846247619178502

good news.

Worth mentioning that the 20% cut is only for the rest of 2022

Furze99

I suppose it is kinda good news. But to be honest, sweet feck all use to large numbers of people living in rural Ireland. Because basically there is no public transport.

It's a curious solution - the people most affected by rising petrol & diesel costs are the ones who are ignored. That said, you have to be resigned to the fact that it just costs more & more every time you fill up now - but what is galling is to hear politicians wringing their hands whilst Revenue creams in substantial duties and VAT on said fuels, never mind carbon taxes...

I suspect rural TDs will be getting their ears burnt.

bk

Interesting to see how this will impact the new 90 minute ticket. The 90 minute fare is supposed to go up to €2.50 in a few months. 20% off that would make it the ideal €2

Perhaps an oppurtunity to get rid of the stupid short fare and make it just a flat €2 fare?

thomasj

https://twitter.com/RTENewsPaulC/status/1491863108251439105?t=rf-rki0F3IzIMVDaVQ7e0w&s=08

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118612457#Comment_118612457

Hard to find sympathy for the majority of rural dwellers who built their own house and hence actually made the figurative bed they lie in.

A selective scheme to support those who live rurally because they work on the land would be fine but wouldn't help those who chose to ensure they didn't have public transport.

thomasj

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118612515#Comment_118612515

They might defer it . The 20% cut is only meant to be for the rest of 2022.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118612535#Comment_118612535

Some of us have no choice where we work as we're in the public service.

My job is 35 km from my home and only accessible by car. I live near a town but there's no reliable bus service between towns

Zebra3

Is this all public transport?

Inter-city buses and trains, etc?

thomasj

i presume anything that is PSO.

So all of Dublin Bus, Go ahead, irish rail, luas, locallink and i presume Bus eireann except for expressway?

I could be wrong

Chris_5339762

PSO... Ryanair Kerry to Dublin or Donegal to Dublin? Wonder if they thought about that one!!

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118612968#Comment_118612968

Ryanair are not PSO on that route. But I'd be certain it won't apply to the Donegal flights or the various PSO ferries as their fares are only capped not set

Hogzy

Cant afford a home in the city centre so I have to look at commuting satellite towns outside of Dublin which means I can only commute by car unless I spend 3.5hrs per day on a bus. Cant do that though due to child care facilities opening/closing hours.

Theyre not building much property in the cities anymore (that isnt build to let or social housing) because everyone is objecting to major schemes.

Its just all broken!

Peregrine

A very good move and one that will be very difficult to reverse next year.

howiya

Does this buy them time to have another look at trying to introduce a more flexible ticket for those who are working in the office one or two days a week?

Its a strange strategy. Climate and cost of living crises. Let's make people go back to commuting daily..

con___manx1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118612535#Comment_118612535

Its kinda of hard not to be a rural dweller for some people with the cost of a **** box of a house in dublin costing close to half a million. I think you should have at least some sympathy for those people.

Its not just people who live in the back of beeonds that dont have good public transport but also large to medium size towns on the commuter belt to dublin.

LXFlyer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118612515#Comment_118612515

I don’t see a 25% fare increase for anyone making short journeys under 3km being even remotely politically acceptable.

LXFlyer

Reading the comments about rural bus services, obviously it is not possible to facilitate every journey, but it is fair to say that the NTA are attempting to address this issue.

Local Link services have seen a big expansion across the country in recent years with many routes which were previously once a week or once a day Bus Éireann services becoming multiple daily services under Local Link.

Late last year the NTA published their “Connecting Ireland” strategy which is all about delivering a big increase in regional services.

https://www.nationaltransport.ie/connecting-ireland/what-is-connecting-ireland/

There’s a link on that page to maps showing what is proposed for each county.

It is not something that will happen overnight, as it will involve acquiring new vehicles and hiring drivers but the plan is to start the rollout later this year and complete it within five years.

Glaceon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118612930#Comment_118612930

I'm getting the bus in and out of work at the moment. I usually get the 101X in the morning and the 100X on the way home. The PSO 101X is currently €6.30 from Drogheda so this would drop it to about €5. The Expressway 100X is €9.50. At that price difference, I'd be tempted to just let it pass and get the next 101X on the way back!

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118612814#Comment_118612814

What is your problem with this. Just because you didn't get what you wanted it doesn't make this a bad thing.

zell12

I'd say private bus operators are in a huff about this. Particularly ones on similar routes to BÉ. They would have grounds to sue the government for unfair competition subsidies, no?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118615277#Comment_118615277

Not everyone lives in a city or even a town with a half reliable transport link.

If I were to rely on a bus to get to work I just couldn't.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118615336#Comment_118615336

Ya but it doesn't make this wrong. It wasn't a one or the other choice where it was this or help the rural people they could have done both.

You surely should be angry that the government didn't help rural drivers rather than vent your anger at this which will help many people.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118615278#Comment_118615278

They are welcome to offer discounts if they so wish and they often do

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118615408#Comment_118615408

Who says I'm angry.

Im just pointing out the facts

loyatemu

any chance they could bring forward the promised 50% student discount as well?

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118615434#Comment_118615434

Sorry fair enough I took you up wrong.

LXFlyer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118615278#Comment_118615278

Remember that it is only BÉ PSO services that this will apply to. Expressway routes are commercial and as such this won’t apply to them.

You are not looking at a lot of routes where both PSO and private commercial operators compete with one another.

Where they do the BÉ PSO routes may take longer due to serving places that would otherwise not have a bus service.

Peregrine

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118615278#Comment_118615278

They don't have a leg to stand on. The NTA is free to set its fares at whatever price it sees fit.

They also shouldn't be in direct competition. The closest would be express private routes vs stopping Bus Éireann routes or express bus vs Irish Rail.

bk

"They might defer it . The 20% cut is only meant to be for the rest of 2022."

Well deferring it wouldn't be much of a cut, that would end up being just a 8% cut.

It needs to be one of the following to be fair:

2.50 - 20% = €2

2.30 - 20% = €1.84

Anything else would be a rip off by the NTA.

"I don’t see a 25% fare increase for anyone making short journeys under 3km being even remotely politically acceptable."

Well so far the 3km short fare has actually only be rolled out to two corridros so far and even then there is zero information on what it covers, so I suspect most people entitled to it don't know about it or use it anyway.

The NTA have really messed up these new fares and it is time they fix it.

zell12

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118615710#Comment_118615710

An example is Galway City where City Direct directly compete with Bus Eireann on three city routes. They both use the Leap Card system. Or Galway commuter towns where Burkes compete with Bus Eireann. Or Kilkenny City routes, which is privately run on behalf of the NTA. All seem to be excluded from this initiative.

It would be viewed as state subsidies being provided against private competitors

Mrs OBumble

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118616488#Comment_118616488

City Direct cover areas of the city and routes which Bus Eireann pretend don't even exist. So not really directly competition.

Still I reckon they and the public will be rightfully annoyed.

People living in "Lower Knocknacarra" are getting subsidised fares already and a price cut.

Poorer people living "Upper Knocknacarra" don't and aren't.