Local News Busses in Oxford

[Northstandboy]

So Stagecoach now no longer offer return tickets, it's single or day pass fares.

From 1st May they will no longer accept Oxford Bus Company SmartZone returns.

So for me, I used to pay £3.80 return (coming back on any company, which I thought was pricy from Cowley), it will now cost me the £4.20 smartzone day pass rate!

Confusing for the general public!

I got caught out, got on a Stagecoach bus to Headingon from Cowley and the driver sold me a Smartzone pass even though I could only get Stagecoach back ( OBC don't run that route)!

 

[werthersoriginal]

So Stagecoach now no longer offer return tickets, it's single or day pass fares.

From 1st May they will no longer accept Oxford Bus Company SmartZone returns.

So for me, I used to pay £3.80 return (coming back on any company, which I thought was pricy from Cowley), it will now cost me the £4.20 smartzone day pass rate!

Confusing for the general public!

I got caught out, got on a Stagecoach bus to Headingon from Cowley and the driver sold me a Smartzone pass even though I could only get Stagecoach back ( OBC don't run that route)!

Buses in Oxford and I imagine most of the country are rubbish and expensive - only in London does public transport work well, and it’s controlled by a single body there. It just doesn’t work having purely commercial companies running the services.

 

[Essexyellows]

Look on with envy.................... https://www.leicesterbuses.co.uk/

Launched today but will take a decade to get up to spec.

Mostly funded by HMG but the local council won`t admit that..............

 

[SteMerritt]

Mostly funded by HMG but the local council won`t admit that..............

Really? So this is wrong?

City misses out on £41m bus cash that would have cut fares

Brighton, York and Cornwall were among the areas chosen to get the money

www.leicestermercury.co.uk

 

[QR]

Shouldn't have been privatised. Profitable routes use to help subsidised non-profitable ones. Classic case of doing what's good for private sector money chasing short term gains at the expense of the general public. Bus companies keep profits from profitable routes, gov/local gov pay more to maintain a dwindling number of non-profitable routes. Numbers of passengers fall overall. Rince and repeat on a downward spiral. And all as predicted prior to privatisation.

 

[Northstandboy]

Look on with envy.................... https://www.leicesterbuses.co.uk/

Launched today but will take a decade to get up to spec.

Mostly funded by HMG but the local council won`t admit that..............

Oxford had, what seemed to be, a joint bus network, no more!

 

[MarkG]

Get the plus bus. £2.65 all day

 

[Oslernorth]

For about £8.20 you could buy a 24 hour ticket that worked on Stagecoach and the Oxford bus company all over Oxfordshire. This has now been withdrawn.
Has anyone come across an alternative type ticket?

 

[m]

I appreciate they probably have a fairly serious hole in their finances post-pandemic but making the service far worse and more expensive to use seems a little short-termist to me.

 

[QR]

I appreciate they probably have a fairly serious hole in their finances post-pandemic but making the service far worse and more expensive to use seems a little short-termist to me.

Unless they are positioning themselves for government support (following the inevitable outcry) in the traditional 'privatise profits/nationalise losses' type of capitalism the Tories have perfected (for their paymasters).

 

[Essexyellows]

Really? So this is wrong?

City misses out on £41m bus cash that would have cut fares

Brighton, York and Cornwall were among the areas chosen to get the money

www.leicestermercury.co.uk

Yep, that's one of the later funding streams that hasn`t been signed off yet. Can`t be throwing money at Labour councils they`ll lose it.

 

[Essexyellows]

Shouldn't have been privatised. Profitable routes use to help subsidised non-profitable ones. Classic case of doing what's good for private sector money chasing short term gains at the expense of the general public. Bus companies keep profits from profitable routes, gov/local gov pay more to maintain a dwindling number of non-profitable routes. Numbers of passengers fall overall. Rince and repeat on a downward spiral. And all as predicted prior to privatisation.

Yes and No.

There needs to be an aspect of both - public ownership with private sector ethos - efficiency and profit/gain are not necessarily bad things if the money is proportionately reinvested.

That's the tricky bit.

 

[QR]

Really? So this is wrong?

City misses out on £41m bus cash that would have cut fares

Brighton, York and Cornwall were among the areas chosen to get the money

www.leicestermercury.co.uk

Borderline bribery/criminal. It's what we're come to expect from corrupt Tories not least because they have public said on numerous occasions (cited on here in the past) they will direct money to Tory areas.

 

[Northstandboy]

I'm off to the boxing, £16 student rate to London including local bus to/from town with Stagecoach, that's good value, shame about the returns.

 

[Essexyellows]

Borderline bribery/criminal. It's what we're come to expect from corrupt Tories not least because they have public said on numerous occasions (cited on here in the past) they will direct money to Tory areas.

The city council is close to splitting down the middle, little to do with the Government.

All the Labour councillors in the City centre are getting the investment due to density of "core" voters in their wards.

The Labour councillors in the outer wards of the City are getting nothing and the residents aren`t happy, neither are said councillors.

Councillor steps down, saying people feel 'disillusioned'

Rita Patel had been Leicester's assistant mayor responsible for communities, equalities and special projects

www.leicestermercury.co.uk

Meet the man who wants to challenge Sir Peter Soulsby for mayor

He says Sir Peter's term of office has overseen a growing divide within the city

www.leicestermercury.co.uk

Unfortunately, we don`t get to vote this year but it's likely we will end up with a far more balanced council in 2023.

 

[QR]

 

[LowerSouth]

Borderline bribery/criminal. It's what we're come to expect from corrupt Tories not least because they have public said on numerous occasions (cited on here in the past) they will direct money to Tory areas.

Is Oxford not one of the authorities to receive a bus cash award ?

 

[QR]

Is Oxford not one of the authorities to receive a bus cash award ?

One off grants are not a substitute for a sustainable public transport strategy.

 

[werthersoriginal]

One off grants are not a substitute for a sustainable public transport strategy.

Yes you dont have to be an lefty or a Green to agree with that. Small one-off grants are not much help. Even a petrolhead Tory would benefit by getting more cars off the road.

 

[Essexyellows]

One off grants are not a substitute for a sustainable public transport strategy.

Depends on the size of the grant..................... £100 million of government money is not insignificant.

the big bus plan — Leicester Buses

www.leicesterbuses.co.uk

The WPL is proving to be far trickier................................................. chicken and egg situation.

 

[QR]

Depends on the size of the grant..................... £100 million of government money is not insignificant.

the big bus plan — Leicester Buses

www.leicesterbuses.co.uk

The WPL is proving to be far trickier................................................. chicken and egg situation.

Oh if Oxfordshire were to receive £100m! That's the amount FOR THE WHOLE COUNTRY. Oxfordshire's share is circa £2m. A sticking plaster to impress people like you.

 

[Essexyellows]

Oh if Oxfordshire were to receive £100m! That's the amount FOR THE WHOLE COUNTRY. Oxfordshire's share is circa £2m. A sticking plaster to impress people like you.

No, it's not "the whole country."
The local bus plan here will cost £300 million all in.
From the link - "The overall Plan will cost up to £170m over the next three years and a further £130m after that."

And further reading...

UK on track to reach 4,000 zero emission bus pledge with £200 million boost

Multimillion-pound package to deliver huge fleet of electric and hydrogen powered buses across England.

www.gov.uk