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

9. Do operators of public transport take adequate measures to protect fares revenue?
Transport Committee: Evidence Ev 165
Tram operators employ inspectors to regularly check tickets whilst rail operators have conductors. These
measures appear adequate for protecting fare revenue.
Buses do not appear to have the same consistency of measures. Bus drivers are expected to provide tickets,
inspect tickets, <strong>and</strong> question passengers if they have asked for the incorrect ticket. This puts added
unnecessary pressure on drivers. Employment of more bus inspectors for protecting fare revenue would
assist.
<strong>Concessionary</strong> Fares—The Right Strategy?
10. Is the Government’s concessionary fares strategy, including the proposed scheme for concessionary bus
travel, adequate?
Service users of the local concessionary scheme are very supportive. Bus travel has increased across
Greater Manchester since April 2006. Rail <strong>and</strong> tram services have also been incorporated into the local
scheme by the authority, providing opportunities for greater integration of travel. This has all been
welcomed by the users. The extension of the scheme, expected in April 2008, will provide added benefits of
cross boundary travel, local travel in other areas of Engl<strong>and</strong>, <strong>and</strong> should increase travel horizons <strong>and</strong> social
inclusion.
Whilst the strategy has been an overwhelming success for users, it has had some negative impacts on Local
Authorities <strong>and</strong> PTAs (<strong>Travel</strong> Concession Authorities or TCAs), other public transport users, commercial
operators <strong>and</strong> community transport operators.
Under the current guidelines <strong>and</strong> operations, funding is not ring fenced, meaning that TCAs need to agree
funding amounts from authorities.
TCAs are obliged to ensure that operators are ‘no better or no worse oV’. This concept has led to appeals
by over 60 operators <strong>and</strong> led to financial risks to TCAs. Under current arrangements operators are
reimbursed for only those journeys that are expected to have been made in the absence of the concessionary
scheme. Operators receive nothing for trips that are deemed to have been generated by the scheme, though
they can make claims for additional costs to be covered as a result of the rise in dem<strong>and</strong>
Community Transport is another area where concessionary fare schemes need to be considered. Given
that community transport services are not commercial <strong>and</strong> frequently already operate at capacity, they are
not in a position to benefit from the rise in passengers generated by free concessionary fare scheme. The
concessions allowed for passengers travelling on community transport should therefore be reimbursed in
full.
The cost of training people to use their concessionary entitlement (such as people with learning
disabilities) should also be covered by the scheme.
The logical way forward would be to simplify schemes so that operators received a reimbursement on the
basis of the agreed average adult fare for every concessionary passenger carried. The reimbursement would
be lower than the average adult fare to prevent operators making super profits <strong>and</strong> to take account of the
economies of scale that operators would receive by carrying more passengers.
The method for managing schemes needs to be considered in the concessionary fares bill for the
national scheme.
Other public transport users, particularly children, are disadvantaged by the current scheme. The
conclusion of the recent appeals by bus operators, led to concessionary fares in Greater Manchester being
raised from 50p to 70p. The impact of this will be felt most by children, the very people that we are trying
to encourage to use public transport <strong>and</strong> become lifetime public transport users.
The Government needs to consider its strategy <strong>and</strong> consider the costs <strong>and</strong> benefits of incorporating
children into the free scheme.
11. Are concessionary fares schemes suYciently integrated across diVerent modes of transport <strong>and</strong> diVerent
geographical areas?
Greater Manchester has already incorporated rail <strong>and</strong> tram into the local scheme, at a cost to GMPTA.
Not all authorities have incorporated all modes, leading to anomalies <strong>and</strong> lack of an integrated approach.
In order to provide integration across modes, consideration needs to be given to a multimodal national
scheme after April 2008. The issue of diVerent geographical areas should be resolved after April 20008,
however the cost of implementing schemes in popular areas, needs consideration to ensure equity for PTAs
<strong>and</strong> TCAs.
March 2007