Child bus & tram fares - changes from 18th September 2016

[Andy C]

Seeing as SYPTE have issued a press release and the Star has finally picked up on it, I thought it might be useful to present an updated guide to child tickets. Those children travelling regularly may find weekly or monthly passes better value than the singles and those children making a journey involving more than one service to reach their destination may find an all day ticket saves money.

 

SYPTE have again had their transport budget cut as part of the government's austerity programme and as a consequence the money available to subsidise child concessionary fares has reduced - meaning the child fares have to go up. More about this here: http://www.sypte.co.uk/media.aspx?id=5006

 

The child fares shown below are available to all children aged 5-10 inclusive (under 5s go free) along with those aged 11-18 that are resident in South Yorkshire and in full time education and show a concessionary bus pass.

 

Child flat fare single - increased from 70p to 80p

Child flat fare return - increased from £1.40 to £1.60

 

Child Getabout - offers unlimited travel on any bus or tram in South Yorkshire:

All day ticket - frozen at £2.50

Weekly ticket - increased from £6.50 to £7.50

 

Child Getabout plus - offers unlimited travel on any bus, train or tram in South Yorkshire:

All day ticket - frozen at £3.60

Weekly ticket - NEW! priced at £12.60

 

More information on Getabout tickets can be found at http://www.sytravelmaster.com.

 

OPERATOR SPECIFIC PRODUCTS

only valid on the services of the bus/tram company offering them.

 

Stagecoach - http://www.stagecoachbus.com or http://www.supertram.com

these tickets are being held in price temporarily

 

Child South Yorkshire Dayrider (all day bus+tram) £2.00

Child South+West Yorkshire Dayrider (all day bus+tram) £3.00

Child Explorer (all day bus+tram includes Derbyshire and Notts) £4.00

Child bus only weekly Megarider £5.00

Child tram only weekly Megarider £5.50

Child bus+tram weekly Megarider £6.00

Child South+West Yorkshire weekly Megarider £10.00

Child 28 day tram only Megarider £20.00 (sold online)

Child 28 day bus+tram Megarider £22.00 (sold online)

 

First - http://www.firstgroup.com/southyorkshire

 

Child First Week South Yorkshire £6.00

 

General travel information can be found at http://www.travelsouthyorkshire.com

 

---------- Post added 08-09-2016 at 19:41 ----------

 

UNDER 22 YEARS OLD AND DON'T QUALIFY FOR A CHILD TICKET?

 

STUDENT - discounted weekly, term or academic year tickets are available from your student union

OTHER UNDER 22s - apply for a personalised smart card for discounted weekly and 28 day tickets from the self service ticket machines at bus interchanges.

 

The choice of discounted tickets are:

Citybus - valid on all buses in Sheffield

Hopper - valid on all buses and trams in South Yorkshire

Hopper plus - valid on all buses, trains and trams in South Yorkshire

See http://www.sytravelmaster.com for details. The various existing u18/u20/u25 products are to be withdrawn and replaced by the above.

 

Additionally Stagecoach and First are also doing student tickets

First - week, term or academic year (buy via their app)

Stagecoach - week, 28 day or academic year (buy online)

See http://www.firstgroup.com/southyorkshire or http://www.stagecoachbus.com as appropriate.

Edited September 10, 2016 by Andy C

[apelike]

Can somebody explain how and why a cut in the SYPTE budget means that fares have to go up especially as the costs of fuels have reduced substantially?

 

Isn't this just a way to keep the profits of the bus, tram and train companies the same?

[Andy C]

Can somebody explain how and why a cut in the SYPTE budget means that fares have to go up especially as the costs of fuels have reduced substantially?

 

Isn't this just a way to keep the profits of the bus, tram and train companies the same?

 

because the child concession is subsidised by SYPTE (ie taxpayers). The operating companies are no better off because the 10p fare increase equals 10p less reimbursement from SYPTE. In fact you could argue the operators are worse off because their costs will be increasing with inflation but their income isn't. Also with many children now saving money by getting weekly tickets that work out even cheaper the operators are certainly not raking it in!

 

The child concessionary fares scheme tends to get hit as unlike the national scheme for Senior Citizens and the disabled, there is no legal requirement to provide it.

Edited September 8, 2016 by Andy C

[ShefStealth]

because the child concession is subsidised by SYPTE (ie taxpayers). The operating companies are no better off because the 10p fare increase equals 10p less reimbursement from SYPTE. In fact you could argue the operators are worse off because their costs will be increasing with inflation but their income isn't. Also with many children now saving money by getting weekly tickets that work out even cheaper the operators are certainly not raking it in!

 

The child concessionary fares scheme tends to get hit as unlike the national scheme for Senior Citizens and the disabled, there is no legal requirement to provide it.

 

Just to counter some of those points, surely direct daily/weekly passenger cash income is preferable to subsidised travel from SYPTE that the transport companies have to wait for reimbursement for?

 

Weekly tickets are in some ways more profitable for the bus companies and the transport executive. If you have a guaranteed amount of money coming in each week rather than sporadic single fares then the system should work more efficiently. Indeed, some of the arguments about bringing in smartcards as opposed to having to print tickets and issue wallets/sleeves bringing ticket issuing expenditure down will of course also apply to newer child weekly/monthly tickets too. In fact, weren't under 16s originally guinea pigs of the smartcard rollout along with the disability/senior passes? (i.e lets speed up boarding by getting rid of people fumbling for change) Also, other arguments behind issuing saver/passes will no doubt also give the transport companies other 'stealth' profits by reducing expenditures - such as the fact that dwell time at stops should reduce by not having to handle so much cash/give change as boarding time should be sped up. This fact also would feed into their reduced expenditure on fuel as engines idling at stops will be reduced in timeframe per journey. I imagine that buses are like flights in that respect i.e that they're more profitable when they're actually moving rather than stationary.

 

Also, if subsidisation is now becoming a major issue - what then is happening about the 'bright buses'? Surely if kids/parents are being expected to pay more for their academic commute which is a legally mandated and thus obligated journey then I would argue that those buses do not provide either good value for money nor will they conform to future environmental legislation regarding emissions which in turn not only will effect the quality of health of its staff and patrons, but of the general populous. The fact that there are bus services that are exclusive in their nature, and that they just so happen to be 'old stock' style buses that the general public would probably not wish to travel on, then why should these be inflected on school kids who are gradually being expected to pay near to the equivalent of an adult fare? Especially as these buses don't appear to have any valid 'saver' style tickets apart from SYPTE tickets. These bright buses aren't particularly safe, being larger and heavier than modern equivalents, and having smaller doors. Neither do they conform to DDA, having steps at all exits.

 

Lastly - isn't this all just a mechanism to try and get people to buy weekly saver style tickets that are then issued on smartcards. The data then is collected on journeys made, where people usually touch on so that the bus companies have more data about demographics and where to make future cuts/increase frequencies to be more profitable?

[Lex Luthor]

Having to pay £1.60 a day for a child/children to get the bus to school adds up to a fair bit of money for families. I hope this doesn't stop any young people from going to the school of their choice, but I suspect it might.

[Guest busdriver1]

Having to pay £1.60 a day for a child/children to get the bus to school adds up to a fair bit of money for families. I hope this doesn't stop any young people from going to the school of their choice, but I suspect it might.

 

SYPTE child fares are still well below the national average, there are areas where child fares are 90% of the adult fare. You think you might have issues ????

 

---------- Post added 10-09-2016 at 12:31 ----------

 

Just to counter some of those points, surely direct daily/weekly passenger cash income is preferable to subsidised travel from SYPTE that the transport companies have to wait for reimbursement for?

 

Weekly tickets are in some ways more profitable for the bus companies and the transport executive. If you have a guaranteed amount of money coming in each week rather than sporadic single fares then the system should work more efficiently. Indeed, some of the arguments about bringing in smartcards as opposed to having to print tickets and issue wallets/sleeves bringing ticket issuing expenditure down will of course also apply to newer child weekly/monthly tickets too. In fact, weren't under 16s originally guinea pigs of the smartcard rollout along with the disability/senior passes? (i.e lets speed up boarding by getting rid of people fumbling for change) Also, other arguments behind issuing saver/passes will no doubt also give the transport companies other 'stealth' profits by reducing expenditures - such as the fact that dwell time at stops should reduce by not having to handle so much cash/give change as boarding time should be sped up. This fact also would feed into their reduced expenditure on fuel as engines idling at stops will be reduced in timeframe per journey. I imagine that buses are like flights in that respect i.e that they're more profitable when they're actually moving rather than stationary.

 

Also, if subsidisation is now becoming a major issue - what then is happening about the 'bright buses'? Surely if kids/parents are being expected to pay more for their academic commute which is a legally mandated and thus obligated journey then I would argue that those buses do not provide either good value for money nor will they conform to future environmental legislation regarding emissions which in turn not only will effect the quality of health of its staff and patrons, but of the general populous. The fact that there are bus services that are exclusive in their nature, and that they just so happen to be 'old stock' style buses that the general public would probably not wish to travel on, then why should these be inflected on school kids who are gradually being expected to pay near to the equivalent of an adult fare? Especially as these buses don't appear to have any valid 'saver' style tickets apart from SYPTE tickets. These bright buses aren't particularly safe, being larger and heavier than modern equivalents, and having smaller doors. Neither do they conform to DDA, having steps at all exits.

 

If you want to pay the appropriate fare I am sure brightbus will be happy to provide modern low floor environmentally friendlier vehicles, about £10 a day ok with you?

[Lex Luthor]

SYPTE child fares are still well below the national average, there are areas where child fares are 90% of the adult fare. You think you might have issues ?????

 

Yes, I think I might.

 

Do all families have to pay this daily per child, irrespective of income?

 

 

 

 

................................

 

 

Andy C, thank you for your informative posts.

 

 

Can a weekly ticket be purchased from the bus driver?

Edited September 10, 2016 by Lex Luthor

[Andy C]

Yes weekly tickets are available from bus drivers and tram conductors.

[*_ash_*]

Seeing as SYPTE have issued a press release and the Star has finally picked up on it, I thought it might be useful to present an updated guide to child tickets.

 

I love the wording Andy. 'Increases' described as above

 

Child flat fare single - increased from 70p to 80p

Child flat fare return - increased from £1.40 to £1.60

 

Child Getabout - offers unlimited travel on any bus or tram in South Yorkshire:

All day ticket - frozen at £2.50

Weekly ticket - increased from £6.50 to £7.50

 

Child Getabout plus - offers unlimited travel on any bus, train or tram in South Yorkshire:

All day ticket - frozen at £3.60

Weekly ticket - NEW! priced at £12.60

 

I'm sure I can recall the last increase (sorry, update!) to adult prices described as rounding things up/down to make coinage easier, and due to cuts to public services due to government austerity

 

Let's count the number of coins required for 70p to 80p for a start

 

No coinage excuse with this one, it's not an increase really though, it's an updated guide to how we can sneak more money of people and blame 'austerity', because as the page says:

 

Young passengers can still make the most of travel savings through the range of value-for-money child and student tickets from bus and tram operators, including weekly tickets that offer unlimited travel across South Yorkshire from 72p per day.

 

It's no difference to what Sky do, BT do, Apple do, Microsoft do, use algorithms to 'encourage/force you to buy in bulk', and they blame on austerity cuts? It's sneaky business, that's what it is.

 

Why lie? Just put the prices up, and say you're doing it because the profit margins for big boys has lowered/ or you've worked out an algorithm that means people will opt for the NEW! £12.60, and you assume that most kids won't do 16 journeys per week (which would cost £12.80 with the new prices) and how many kids do 16 journeys split over the bus, the tram AND the train every week?

 

Why aren't the lefties picking up on this and asking why private companies can make profits whilst still subsidised by our taxes (only 10% according to webpage) and increasing fares?

 

-

 

I've even thought of my old routine which was 2 buses per day. I would save 50p per week by buying a weekly ticket. Is that a good deal?

 

Well not really, because I might be ill one or more of those days, and besides, if I paid for those two trips every day as 'singles' before the update/increase, it would have cost me £7, not £7.50 as the frozen great deal now offers. And if I was ill on single fares, I would have saved £1.40 per day!

 

-

 

In fact, they already had this nonsense deals in place before:

 

Child flat fare single - increased from 70p to 80p

Child flat fare return - increased from £1.40 to £1.60

 

At what point was there any advantage to buying a return in the first place*?

 

 

*unless a kid has a gambling or money problem, or got fleeced at lunchtime

[cgksheff]

If your child is making 10 trips per week to and from school, you could be well advised to pay for a "zero fare pass" for the academic year.

The fee charged for this usually represents a two week discount.