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Child Item

LEAP cards now work on the city buses

Mrs OBumble

Transport for Ireland just tweeted that LEAP cards (those green things that save you money up in Dublin) are now working on the Galway City buses (that's Bus Éireann city services and City Direct):

Eagle-eyes here on boards spotted that cards for Galway were available on the LEAP website, and TFI have just confirmed it today after I asked them a few days ago.

I don't know where to buy tickets yet (possibly the outlets are not yet stocked), but if you have a card from Dublin (or Cork where they're just rolling out now, too), then it should work here.

And (guessing) it's possible that driver training here is not yet complete. So be nice to the drivers if they seem a bit confused - this launch has probably happened faster than planned :-)

Don't think they're on any of the regional buses yet, either - though I believe it's coming.

This won't seem like big news to many people. But in Dublin the savings are quite big. And cards like this make transfers, fare capping and lots of other good things possible, and will eventually work nationwide.

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antoobrien

Crumbs868 wrote: »

Don' expect a price 'decrease' for leap. How the fare difference arose in dublin was they increased the cash fare but didn't increase the leap fare.

No they didn't, the timing of the introduction (when DB had already submitted their fare plan to the NTA, who set the leap fare levels) just makes it look that way.

The leap card was fully introduced (after a several month limited trial) on 12th December 2011, the NTA granted DB a fare increase on 22 December to be effected on January first 2012 - so many people will have the false impression you have.

Mrs OBumble

Cocolola wrote: »

That's a great guide, much better than the actual website for Leap! Thanks a mil

Cheers, that's what I was aiming for :-)

gordongekko

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Cheers, that's what I was aiming for :-)

The maxol in Westside and the one in salthill have the same owner so it's likely to be available to buy/top up in salthill as well as Westside.

Stevolende

Are there any savings over a monthly pass, like comparing the 2 would it cost less over a month?
I think a monthly pass saves you about a week's payment for a 2 journey day. Plus travel is unlimited

Not sure what I'm hearing so far, but will need to get a pass for October imminently since it starts tomorrow.
Is this more like an Oyster card is in London, each trip has a reduced rate fare rather than inside the time limit on the pass travel is unlimited?

antoobrien

BÉ have announced their prices for Galway, for details see their page: http://www.buseireann.ie/inner.php?id=386. The card can be used on the city services (they to refer to it as the red zone, as cork has two zones red and green).

The prices they have announced are:

16% discount on cash fare for single trips (works out at about €1.60 for an adult).

Multi trip tickets:
Valid|Adult|Student|Child
1 Day| 4.10| N/A| N/A
7 Day| 20.20|17.80 | 8.20
Calendar Month|65.50|56.50|31.00

catgalway

My daughter used her today...well tried to...it charged her 97c for school child (90c) so bus driver had no choice but to let her on for free...no complaints here

Looks like they have a wee problem with school fares

joeKel73

antoobrien wrote: »

Valid|Adult|Student|Child
1 Day| 4.10| N/A| N/A
7 Day| 20.20|17.80 | 8.20
Calendar Month|65.50|56.50|31.00

So no savings on the weekly or monthly passes?

antoobrien

J o e wrote: »

So no savings on the weekly or monthly passes?

Do you have the cash prices?

joeKel73

Day, week and month passes are same as your table above;
http://www.galwaytransport.info/2008/12/fares-for-galway-city-bus-services-city.html
http://www.buseireann.ie/inner.php?id=331#Galway

Stevolende

THe monthly pass has been €65.50 for the last while.
I think weekly was about €19.50 but I haven't had one in a while.

Stevolende

Still not clear about how you are charged while using this, is it per journey or unlimited travel inside the time it's issued for?
If the former then the pass makes more sense.

Unless they're about to get rid of passes.

Mrs OBumble

antoobrien wrote: »

Do you have the cash prices?

Bus Eireann:

Weekly city-service tickets:
Adult: €20.20
Student: €17.80
Child: €8.20

Monthly city-service tickets:
Adult: €65.50
Student: €56.50
Child €31.00

City Direct:
WEEKLY TICKETS:

Adult €20
* Up to 16 years €15

MONTHLY TICKETS:

Adult €62

So - no fare reductions at the moment, and in fact a slight increase for City Direct.

But remember that (apart from the day-pass) BE don't set their own fares.

The NTA do that, as part of the annual fare-determination process. In the last couple of years, that's happened at the beginning of December.

So my best guess is that they will get the hiccups out of the system in the next couple of months and then have fare increases that apply to cash fares only, not to Leap, from December.

In Dublin, as well as having a lower fare if you pay with Leap (as per Oyster), there is also some daily-capping being applied so in effect your first X trips are at usual rate, but the rest are free for that day.

joeKel73

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

In Dublin, as well as having a lower fare if you pay with Leap (as per Oyster), there is also some daily-capping being applied so in effect your first X trips are at usual rate, but the rest are free for that day.

Will this not automatically happen, if you use the card for more than 2 trips I'd have assumed it went down as a daily pass instead. Or do you need to explicitly request a daily pass when getting your first bus?

antoobrien

Stevolende wrote: »

Still not clear about how you are charged while using this, is it per journey or unlimited travel inside the time it's issued for?

One or the other depending on what you've paid for. If you've paid for a cash purse it's by trip.

Stevolende wrote: »

If the former then the pass makes more sense.

The passes only make sense if you will use more than the price of the pass in single fare tickets. Otherwise it's throwing away money.

J o e wrote: »

Will this not automatically happen, if you use the card for more than 2 trips I'd have assumed it went down as a daily pass instead. Or do you need to explicitly request a daily pass when getting your first bus?

I don't know when they updated the leapcard website, but it appears that capping is only applies to the DB, Dart/Commuter & Luas services.

Mrs OBumble

J o e wrote: »

Will this not automatically happen, if you use the card for more than 2 trips I'd have assumed it went down as a daily pass instead. Or do you need to explicitly request a daily pass when getting your first bus?

I understand that it happens automatically - but haven't tried it myself. But it's only in Dublin. there is no capping in Galway yet - shure'n we've barely started using the cards!

Intifada

So do these actually save you money, or is it a case of bumping up the paper-ticket fares in order to force you to use the card to 'save' money like they do in London?

I actually emailed them at the end of May and they told me they had no plans to roll it out to Galway.

inisboffin

*bit confused*
So if I use it as a single journey what's the price?
Cash fare is 1.90 on BE so will a 'leap version' of a single fare be 1.60?
(I'm basing this on the percentage given and similar to how the Dublin model works).

antoobrien

Intifada wrote: »

So do these actually save you money

16% on a single fare cash ticket paid for on the bus (approx 30c).

Even if it was the same fare as cash tickets, I'd get this as it saves me from having to remember to bring change.

Registering it also gives protection against loss or theft.

Mrs OBumble

inisboffin wrote: »

*bit confused*
So if I use it as a single journey what's the price?
Cash fare is 1.90 on BE so will a 'leap version' of a single fare be 1.60?
(I'm basing this on the percentage given and similar to how the Dublin model works).

Right now, there has been no announcement about fare differences.

I expect that a single fare will currently cost 1.90 on a Leap card - and I will be testing this the next time Mr O'B and I go somewhere by bus. (Maybe Friday if you're lucky.)

My bet is that in December this year, cash fares will increase, Leap ones will increase by less or possibly by zero.

The 1.60 was speculation from someone, based on the quoted 16% on the BE leap. It's not anything official.

Intifada

antoobrien wrote: »

Even if it was the same fare as cash tickets, I'd get this as it saves me from having to remember to bring change.

The flip side to this is not always knowing how much you have on your card or being able to top it up, as opposed to having coins in your pocket you can count.

I lived in London for many years before and after the Oyster card introduction and it's not really better in any way, other than avoiding the extortionate prices they set for not using it.

antoobrien

Intifada wrote: »

The flip side to this is not always knowing how much you have on your card or being able to top it up, as opposed to having coins in your pocket you can count.

That's not hard to overcome, especially given the online functionality made available via the leap website.

jkforde

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

The 1.60 was speculation from someone, based on the quoted 16% on the BE leap. It's not anything official.

it is official, the 16% discount figure was categorically stated at the launch of Leap in Cork on BÉ services... maybe we should ask someone on the Cork city forum on their experiences with it.....

Mrs OBumble

jkforde wrote: »

it is official, the 16% discount figure was categorically stated at the launch of Leap in Cork on BÉ services... maybe we should ask someone on the Cork city forum on their experiences with it.....

I've been googling:

That was for Cork. Galway is not Cork.

The official fare determination for Bus Éireann and the Leap-launch in Galway is available here:

http://www.nationaltransport.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Determination_BE_Leap__Student__Child_May14_final.pdf

The key information from it is:

As outlined above Bus Éireann are proposing to introduce the Leap card and associated Leap products in Galway city during quarter 3 later this year. The current range of 1-day, 7-day, monthly and annual tickets will transfer to Leap card products. There will be additional benefits with the Leap card products such as the 24 hour period of validity of the one day product as opposed to one day with the old ticket. However the current prices will remain the same.

bolding mine.

City Direct is a different kettle of fish - they aren't subsidised, so set their own fares. It's up to them to announce leap discounts if they want to offer any.

jkforde

ok, that information in the PDF is correct but I'm talking about single trip cash ticketing, not prepaid tickets etc. (read the whole section on Galway City)

if I hop on a bus for a single trip into town and I proffer cash the current price for my pickup location is €1.90 but if I pay with my Leapcard credit it'll be 16% cheaper.

antoobrien

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

I've been googling:

That was for Cork. Galway is not Cork.

BÉ have stated that they are applying 16% to Galway.

http://www.buseireann.ie/inner.php?id=386

You can use Travel credit on your Leap Card to pay for single trips> Travel Credit fares are 16% cheaper than the corresponding cash single ticket. If you are a more frequent traveller, you can also but the following tickets for your card

Victor

http://www.nationaltransport.ie/news/leap-card-now-in-galway-fares-up-to-16-cheaper/

Leap Card now in Galway – fares up to 16% cheaper
30/09/14

The National Transport Authority’s Leap Card integrated ticketing scheme is now live in Galway City on Bus Éireann services and on City Direct services (from Cappagh to the West and Oranmore and Parkmore to the East of the City).

Customers can choose an Adult, Student or Child Leap Card for better value and more convenient travelling. It is a pay-as-you-go smart card that pays for public transport services. Leap fares are 16% cheaper than the corresponding cash single ticket on Bus Éireann services (routes 401 – 410), and are the same price as cash fares on City Direct services (routes 411 – 413).

In addition, commuters and more frequent travellers can upload a range of time-period tickets onto their Leap Card – 24-hour tickets, 7-day tickets, month-long tickets.

Cards are available to buy and top-up in a range of Payzone agent shops in Galway (see www.payzone.ie for full details), or on our own dedicated website: www.leapcard.ie .

Since its launch in Dublin in December 2011, the Leap Card has become an integral part of many people’s daily travelling behaviour. Some 700,000 cards are now in circulation, with 70 million journeys paid for by Leap since its launch. The card was launched for bus services in Cork earlier this year, and future plans include adding the cities of Limerick and Waterford and also incorporating new products and operators in the scheme.

For more information on Leap Card, visit www.leapcard.ie

Laviski

so has actually used it yet and verify the single fare price?

all information so far has not verified the actual single fare price, find it odd that a simple single fare price for leap cards is hard to post on BE site or the national transportation site.

Victor

J o e wrote: »

So no savings on the weekly or monthly passes?

These are a direct replacement of the 'paper' tickets, which will likely be withdrawn soon.

The advantage of Leap Card is that you should be able to buy products (monthly, annual, etc.) on-line and use one card for products and e-purse (if you go to Cork or Dublin).

Intifada

Victor wrote: »

These are a direct replacement of the 'paper' tickets, which will likely be withdrawn soon.

The advantage of Leap Card is that you should be able to buy products (monthly, annual, etc.) on-line and use one card for products and e-purse (if you go to Cork or Dublin).

It will save BÉ money in the long run though, which will obviously be passed on to the commuter (:pac: :pac:)

Mrs OBumble

Intifada wrote: »

It will save BÉ money in the long run though, which will obviously be passed on to the commuter (:pac: :pac:)

... in the form of reduced subsidy requirements meaning less tax needs to be used to prop up the CIE group.