Ticketing and Concessionary Travel on Public Transport - United ...

Transport Committee: Evidence Ev 75
— Premium pricing of all operator bus tickets, together with discounting of single operator tickets
mean that, in Greater Manchester, only 12% of all paid-for tickets are valid on all buses
— We believe that developing an easy-to-underst<strong>and</strong>, easy-to-use ticketing system is a key factor in
determining the attractiveness <strong>and</strong> eYciency of public transport services.
— However, even with the simplest of schemes, tickets must remain aVordable. There is evidence in
Greater Manchester that ticket complexity <strong>and</strong> fare levels restrict the mobility of the most
disadvantaged members of the community.
— ITSO compliant Smartcards have the potential to facilitate better inter-operability, interchange
<strong>and</strong> cross-boundary travel. The government should fully fund the roll out of ITSO smartcards in
Engl<strong>and</strong> as has happened in Scotl<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> Wales.
— In pursuit of our social inclusion objectives, Passenger Transport Authorities should have the
power <strong>and</strong> funding to grant concessions to groups other than the elderly, disabled <strong>and</strong> children,
including unemployed people, those on low incomes <strong>and</strong> young people.
B. Background
B.1 GMPTA/E, working with its partners, the district councils, are responsible for the planning, coordination
<strong>and</strong> development of the public transport network in Greater Manchester. Public transport
services are however, provided largely on a commercial basis by private operators, including around 70 bus
operators, each responsible for their own fares <strong>and</strong> ticketing arrangements. GMPTA/E has an aspiration
for a ticketing system that is “easy-to-underst<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> easy-to-use”, but the reality is very diVerent; there are
approaching 100 diVerent ticket products available to passengers, not counting individual operators’ single
trip tickets
B.2 In common with other transport authorities, our Local Transport Plan represents the policy
framework <strong>and</strong> scheme programme for the conurbation over a five-year period. However, our long term
vision <strong>and</strong> strategic direction is provided by the Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Strategy
(GMITS) which was produced jointly by GMPTA/E <strong>and</strong> the local authorities in April 2005 <strong>and</strong> forms the
basis for our Transport Innovation Fund (TIF) bid currently being prepared for submission to Government
in July 2007. GMITS emphasises the importance of transport investment to secure future economic growth,
regeneration <strong>and</strong> quality of life improvements across the conurbation. A range of measures is proposed to
deliver a sustainable network which reduces car dependency through a combination of dem<strong>and</strong>
management measures <strong>and</strong> extensive investment to improve the quality <strong>and</strong> coverage of the public transport
system. The development <strong>and</strong> design of a ticketing <strong>and</strong> fares system is identified as a key factor in
determining the attractiveness <strong>and</strong> eYciency of the future public transport network so as to achieve our
modal split <strong>and</strong> social inclusion objectives.
B.3 GMTL 21 provides a range of tickets valid on all operators’ services. However, it is widely regarded
that the complexity of tickets <strong>and</strong> fares is a major disincentive to using public transport, which then limits
the potential to increase the modal share of public transport. <strong>Ticketing</strong> <strong>and</strong> fares for local bus services are
particularly complex, with diVerences in the level <strong>and</strong> structure of fares levied by individual operators <strong>and</strong>
a number of single-operator period tickets oVered.
B.4 On average, buses in Greater Manchester spend a third of their journey time stationary or moving
slowly. Boarding <strong>and</strong> alighting accounts for about a third of this (11% of overall journey time). There is
considerable variation in individual passenger boarding times, ranging from an average of around four
seconds for pass users, to six to nine seconds for a single or return ticket <strong>and</strong> 12–15 seconds for the initial
on-bus sale of day/weekly tickets. A high proportion of single-operator weekly tickets are sold on Monday
mornings leading to a significant variation in boarding times over the course of the week. GMPTE is
currently working with bus operators in Greater Manchester to identify ways of improving boarding times
by increasing the level of rules of oV-bus tickets, including the provision of on-street ticket machines.
B5 Developing a pilot ITSO compliant smartcard project.
A pilot scheme with a local bus operator to promote oV-bus ticket sales.
B.6 It is against this background that GMPTA/E oVers the following comments on the questions posed
in the Committee’s Terms of Reference <strong>and</strong> Call for Evidence.
18 Greater Manchester <strong>Travel</strong>cards Limited, a consortium of local public transport operators <strong>and</strong> GMPTE.