County Council Offers Day and Weekly Tickets on Supported Services

Co-incident with the introduction of new contracts for supported bus services in Lancashire the county council is requiring operators to issue and accept a range of one-day and one-week tickets.

Each service, or group of services, has a separate ticket and prices vary according to area. Not all services have a one-day version.  Of course, it's not possible to work out how much value-for-money the tickets represent compared with ordinary fares as these are, naturally, a closely-guarded secret and can only be found by asking the driver when you travel!  Nevertheless, it's a start.

Here is what is available in our area:

LANCASTER AREA:

Service 51  Carnforth - Silverdale

Day ticket  Adult £6.30 Child £3.20   Weekly ticket Adult £17.00 Child N/A

Only valid for unlimited travel on the following local bus route:-

Service 51 Carnforth – Warton – The Yealands – Silverdale

Service 89  Lancaster - Knott End-on-Sea

Day ticket  Adult £6.30 Child £3.20   Weekly ticket Adult £17.00 Child N/A

Only valid for unlimited travel on the following local bus route:-

Service 89 Lancaster – Royal Infirmary – Cockerham – Pilling – Preesall – Knott End

Note that although the prices are identical the tickets are not interavailable and each service requires a separate ticket, perhaps understandable as the two services have no physical connection. There is no ticket for service 33 Morecambe-Bare Circular or the Park & Ride and, presumably, Stagecoach's own tickets are considered sufficient for service 18 in east Lancaster. Nevertheless, the Bus Users Group strongly hopes that a similar arrangement will now be made for the Lune Valley, where service improvements have been promised for February.

One of the most extensive networks covered by the ticket is in the East Lancashire where 10 different services provided by three different operators are included in one ticket, with both one-day and one-week versions available. Full details of services covered are here.

Closer to home there are tickets for the Fylde Coast, Wyre and South Ribble  and a full list can be obtained via this link

It is important to realise that the tickets only cover the council-supported services and do not include commercial services in the areas covered. Nevertheless it is a welcome development. Hopefully the council will consider using forthcoming powers under the Bus Services Act to expand the scheme to take in commercial services and develop a series of multi-operator tickets throughout Lancashire.

A Ribble bus promoting the Red Rose Rambler ticket
in the old bus station in Lancaster in 1983.

Who knows, one day we might even get back to the situation that pertained a mere 35 years ago when a "Red Rose Rambler" ticket gave unlimited, all-operator travel all over the county, with some versions even including trains as well?

Now that would be "integrated transport"!

Local MP asks "Bus" Questions in the House

Cat Smith, member of parliament for Lancaster and Fleetwood has been asking questions about bus services in the House of Commons.  The questions have been addressed to Jesse Norman MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport) who has provided written answers.

Ms Smith asked  about the provision of audio-visual "next stop" announcements on buses.

Here is her question:

Cat SmithShadow Minister for Voter Engagement and Youth Affairs, Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Commons

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to introduce regulations requiring operators of local bus services to make information available on buses in the form of announcements about forthcoming stops.

The Bus Services Act 2017 included provision for the government to require all bus operators to equip their vehicles with visual displays and audio announcements to let passengers know the name of the stops along the route, with each stop being announced just before the bus arrives.

Using GPS technology, this system is in use on every bus in London as well as an increasing number of English cities, with Nottingham being a prime example.

An example from Nottingham, showing the name
    of the approaching stop and the two following. Audio 

                     announcememts are also made.

Locally, it is in use on a small number of buses in the Blackburn and Burnley areas but the nearest we get to it here in Lancaster is on Stagecoach service 555 where an inferior audio-only system makes rather lengthy announcements when approaching some (but not all) of the stops north of Carnforth. Even then, it is often not working, although whether that is due to a faulty system or someone having chosen not to switch it on is unclear.

A simpler, but perhaps less cluttered example from London.

When used properly, such systems are invaluable for blind and partially-sighted passengers, whilst the visual displays cater for those who are hard-of-hearing. The

systems also help any passengers who may not have hearing or sight impediments but who may just be travelling a route for the first time or to a destination they have not been to before.  The Bus Users' Group was very pleased that this requirement had been built-in to the Bus Services Act and has been waiting for news of when it might be implemented, so we are grateful to Cat Smith for raising the issue in parliament. It does look, however, that the introduction of these systems may still take some time. Here is the Parliamentary Under-Secretary's reply:

Jesse Norman Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Bus Services Act 2017 incorporates powers to introduce an Accessible Information Requirement, mandating the provision of audible and visible information on local bus services in Great Britain.

We are currently working with stakeholders to develop the detail of the requirement, including timescales for its implementation, with a view to consulting publicly in 2018. Following consideration of the consultation responses, we expect to publish Regulations and accompanying guidance when the Parliamentary timetable permits.

 "Stakeholders", of course, will include the bus industry itself, which will no doubt find many reasons why the introduction of such systems should be delayed or even abandonned. The industry is notoriously short-termist in its thinking and usually acts as if keeping costs down will prove more beneficial (to it) than improving its offering to the public.  We hope the government keeps its nerve on this and works towards early implementation.  But here lies another problem. Note the reference above to publishing Regulations "when the Parliamentary timetable permits".  Anyone who takes any interest in politics may have noticed that the "parliamentary timetable" is presently somewhat over-subscribed with the a certain issue involving us and our European neighbours. The BUG won't be holding its breath!

(Almost) Everything You Need to Know About Buses Over Christmas

"Everything you need to know about buses in Lancaster and Morecambe over the festive period" is the title of the leaflet produced by Stagecoach to advertise their services over Christmas and the New Year.  You can read a copy via this link

As in previous years, services will close down early evening on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve and there will be no buses at all on Christmas Day.  Boxing Day (26th December) sees a special daytime service operating on the following routes:

2A University - Lancaster - Heysham (Combermere Road)

3A Lancaster - Bare - Heysham (Combermere Road)

6A Lancaster - Morecambe

40 Morecambe - Lancaster - Preston

55 Lancaster - Carnforth

Full timetables are in the leaflet

However, despite its title, the leaflet doesn't really tell you everything about Lancaster's bus service over Christmas.  Service 555 Lancaster - Carnforth - Kendal - Keswick will be providing a Sunday service on Boxing Day, but as it's operated by a completely different part of Stagecoach (known as "Kendal Depot") there is no mention of this in the "Lancaster and Morecambe" Christmas leaflet. 

If you want to check, you need the "Kendal and the Lake District" leaflet, which you can see here.