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

Ev 116 Transport Committee: Evidence
That this free travel is not oVered on comparable rail services does not help. To attract the elderly out of
private cars, especially in these times of enhanced concern over CO2 emissions <strong>and</strong> road congestion problems
arising from 33 million cars across the country. the whole range of public transport must be made far more
attractive, <strong>and</strong> extensive—<strong>and</strong> that includes financially attractive, too. In Tees-side, for instance, local rail
services are far quicker, mile for mile, than the corresponding bus services, even those marketed as ”express”.
<strong>Concessionary</strong> fares should be extended to rail as well, <strong>and</strong> adequate compensation paid, from much higher
levels of grant to local authorities <strong>and</strong>/or transport operators. The present unwritten law that bus competes
with train, or even that one bus operator competes with another over the same terrain, needs to be set aside
in favour of co-operation among all operators, so that users may use <strong>and</strong> change between one or the other,
as need <strong>and</strong> preference dictates. (And that applies at all levels, not just that of OAP free travel.)
11. Are concessionary fares schemes suYciently integrated across diVerent modes of transport <strong>and</strong> diVerent
geographical areas?
As our answers to other questions will confirm, the answer here, once more, is ”no”.
The whole concessionary fare system needs a complete overhaul, to iron out anomalies, <strong>and</strong> to be fair to
all users <strong>and</strong> operators across the whole public transport spectrum. It must also be simple enough for all to
grasp quickly, no matter how rarely they travel. Once that is done, it needs a vigorous <strong>and</strong> nation-wide relaunch,
together with a continuing publicity policy at as many transport outlets as is humanly possible—
i.e. every bus stop <strong>and</strong> every station as a minimum—since even the few quasi-integrated bus/tram schemes
now in existence are diYcult to find out about, as if they had to comply with the OYcial Secrets Act.
Idealistic though these new measures may seem to be, they are the very least needed if public transport
ticketing is to become “integrated”. And no oYcial body with responsibility for buses or trains should ever
forget that, in today’s conditions, a steady <strong>and</strong> lasting increase in public transport use, in all its modes, is
the only way forward for us all.
March 2007
Executive Summary
Memor<strong>and</strong>um from PA Consulting Group (TPT 17)
The key points that we make in this submission are as follows:
Integrated <strong>Ticketing</strong>
— Integrated ticketing is not necessarily a panacea in terms of passenger experience though it does
have a significant role to play.
— The Government does not currently have suYcient control over ticketing on all modes of transport
to implement true interoperability.
— <strong>Ticketing</strong> asset replacement <strong>and</strong> uptake incentives/m<strong>and</strong>ates drive business cases for technology
adoption <strong>and</strong> the case is diYcult to make in isolation <strong>and</strong> in the short term.
— ITSO is capable of meeting the needs of operators <strong>and</strong> passengers, as are some other systems,
though there must be interoperability between solutions if the benefits are to be delivered.
— The more control over ticketing that a single entity has, the more manageable integration becomes
though the risk on monopolistic supply increases.
Revenue Protection <strong>and</strong> The Powers of Ticket Inspectors
— The disincentives to travelling without a ticket are not suYciently strong or consistently applied.
<strong>Concessionary</strong> Fares—The Right Strategy
— The precise strategy is not clear.
— Integration across modes <strong>and</strong> geographies will be important to enable easy movement across local
authority boundaries <strong>and</strong> operators <strong>and</strong> simpler governance of the concessionary fare scheme
would enhance its chances of success.