Survey indicates Ireland is the most expensive country in the world for commuting

Jem72 · 24-10-2019 8:43am #1

I came across this interesting survey this morning that compares the cost of monthly commuter tickets worldwide. Ireland comes in as the most expensive country and Dublin is the third most expensive city in the world. The survey doesn't take TaxSaver into account but with an average salary in the country of around 25k this discount doesn't apply to majority of commuters.

What a pity we don't get a quality of service to match.

https://www.globehunters.us/blog/the-global-public-transport-index.htm

magicbastarder · 24-10-2019 8:54am

average wage is considerably higher than 25k: https://www.thejournal.ie/rish-workers-earn-an-average-of-e23-an-hour-4677090-Jun2019/

Jem72 · 24-10-2019 9:03am

Apologies, the median income is around 29k - the average is around 10k higher. The median is still significantly below the 35k higher rate threshold. So only a minority can benefit fully from TaxSaver given that you need to be on the higher rate band and working for a company that participates.

For those on standard rate tax, the discount drops us down to around the third most expensive in the world.

punisher5112 · 24-10-2019 9:05am

Good thing they're bringing in the travel90 then where you can travel on Dart, bus and Luas inside 90 minutes for the one price....

magicbastarder · 24-10-2019 9:19am

there are many way of skinning a stat, by the looks of it:

According to Eurostat, Ireland is the ninth most expensive of the EU 28 member states when it comes to overall transport prices, including private passenger services such as taxis and planes

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/consumer/how-does-ireland-s-public-transport-compare-with-other-countries-1.3936846

Jem72 · 24-10-2019 9:33am

The survey I referenced was purely about the costs for commuter passes. In Ireland monthly passes offer a very poor discount over the the cost of buying return tickets each day. Irish long distance bus & rail fares are generally reasonable value which would account for the overall costs being around the middle of the pack.

By way of example - my local station offers a 25 euro day return or a 437 euro monthly pass. The numbers are similar in Dublin - 180 per month vs a 10 euro Bus+Rail daily cap. This means you need 18 return journeys in a month before the pass is better value. In most European countries, a monthly is around 10 times the price of a day return.

L1011 · 24-10-2019 9:38am

Monthly and annual (especially) tickets have been set to make them pointless unless bought as Taxsaver. This must have been a conscious decision by the NTA or DoT pre-NTA.

With PAYE Modernisation they should make it so that anyone can get a Taxsaver ticket regardless of their employer supporting it or not as Revenue will have monthly data on everyone

Jem72 · 24-10-2019 9:46am

Or you could just simplify matters, do away with TaxSaver, and halve the price of the monthly and annual passes - bringing the TaxSaver benefit to the lower paid who need it more than those on the higher rate of tax.

There was definitely a conscious decision during the crash years to stick the boot into commuters since they had no choice but to pay. This was even directly stated in one of the fare determination documents. Between 2008 and 2014, the price of my commuter pass went from 2.5k to more than 4 and they introduced car parking fees. I was fortunate enough to reap the full benefit of TaxSaver but it always felt wrong that I was paying less than students or lower-paid people using the service.

Xterminator · 24-10-2019 12:05pm

Jem72 wrote: »

Or you could just simplify matters, do away with TaxSaver, and halve the price of the monthly and annual passes - bringing the TaxSaver benefit to the lower paid who need it more than those on the higher rate of tax.

yeah, but how many low paid workers could afford the up front costs of an annual ticket iifthere was no tax-saver scheme?

It sounds great but ignores the benefit of an employers deducting the cost over the year making it more affordable than one big up front cost. and that particular part of the scheme tends be be more of a perk to the lower paid, who are more likely to be living from paycheck to paycheck.

Jem72 · 24-10-2019 12:49pm

A 2000 per annum pass currently costs a standard rate tax payer around 130 per month. If passes were discounted 50%, the equivalent monthly pass would be 100 per month.

So the low-paid worker still saves 30 per month and no need to buy the ticket up front.

Possibly the employer could be willing to issue a cash advance to cover an annual pass now that they no longer have to pay the annual pass in advance themselves, in which case the low-paid worker would now be 50 euro per month better off.

Geuze · 24-10-2019 8:39pm

Average earnings for full time workers, including overtime and irregular earnings, are 46k approx.

punisher5112 · 24-10-2019 9:03pm

No wonder it's so expensive as us workers are keeping the 19 to 21 billion to welfare going....

There are more then ever eligible for free travel and honestly this isn't helping with the amount travelling either

Survey indicates Ireland is the most expensive country in the world for commuting

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