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

Ev 186 Transport Committee: Evidence
appointments, or even simply a tiresome wait without a certainty of the service on which they will travel will
place a value to the cyclist of making a reservation for a place for their cycle, in exactly the same way that
they would reserve a seat, or a sleeper berth. Thus for many the ability to get a reservation <strong>and</strong> ticket for
their cycle, which guarantees the journey as planned is a vital part of booking a ticket. When passengers
with cycles often top 10% of the total passenger count on a train, <strong>and</strong> 50% of the passengers on a rural bus
service, the need to accommodate them in the ticketing system—if only to garner knowledge of the actual
use, is an important way to underst<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> support the delivery of eVective intermodal integration.
As highlighted to the Committee Inquiry on Access to Transport for Disabled Persons, there is a further
aspect to cycle use—that of being a mobility aid. Cycles can provide independent personal mobility to those
who are prevented from holding a driving licence for various reasons, <strong>and</strong> it can also deliver pain-free
mobility for those who cannot walk a great distance with a greater range <strong>and</strong> flexibility than a wheelchair,
noting that some wheelchair users also use specialist tricycles which can be used over longer distances <strong>and</strong>
rougher terrain, but obviously are bespoke to their users, <strong>and</strong> not appropriate for inter-urban travel, where
use of trains <strong>and</strong> buses may be appropriate.
Air
Much of the feedback on this will be duplicated by the response to the Committee’s Inquiry into
Passengers’ Experience of Air <strong>Travel</strong>. SuYcient possibly to note here that there is immense variation in the
information provided <strong>and</strong> service delivered for passengers wishing to travel with a cycle. Many of the budget
airlines have charges greater than the passenger fare for carrying a cycle, but will not guarantee which flight
they will carry the cycle on. One group wishing to travel with Flybe from Southampton to Shannon were
to be charged £12 per bike per flight but advised that they might have to wait from the first flight of the day
until the last with no guarantee of all getting taken on to the same flight—they decided to spend their money
on a ferry trip to France <strong>and</strong> support local hotels & restaurants in Brittany rather than Galway. The ability
to book online with a guarantee that your appearance with a cycle is expected is a feature of the easyJet
website which gets praised widely by both individuals <strong>and</strong> tour organisers, but few others will oVer a proper
reservation.
Coach
Many parts of the UK cannot be reached by rail <strong>and</strong> thus for all but the most dogged <strong>and</strong> fit cyclists who
will cycle where they cannot get to by train, there are alternatives in using other forms of public transport
or increasing the volume of private car traYc, The latter especially ironic where this is to scenic destinations.
The coach can provide a suitable means for travelling over long distances <strong>and</strong> roads, where traYc conditions
may be unpleasant or potentially hazardous, <strong>and</strong> in some cases this may be the only direct route available.
National Express provide what for most potential passengers is the sole source of long distance coach
travel, in Engl<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> Wales, <strong>and</strong> Scottish Citylink mirrors this in Scotl<strong>and</strong>. CTC has worked with both
companies <strong>and</strong> a number of the less well known independent operators, <strong>and</strong> major groups providing less
well known services (eg Oxford-Cambridge, Exeter-Okehampton-Bude) often filling in where former rail
lines have been severed.
National Express conditions are generally accepted as a base-line where cycles which are folded or packed
down <strong>and</strong> contained in a purpose-made bag or case will be carried “if space is available” This is clearly an
unsatisfactory position, as the passenger’s ticket is normally booked to travel on a specified service, <strong>and</strong> the
assurance that their cycle is carried depends entirely on the judgement of the driver. We have seen one
regular user denied his holiday of a lifetime when the packed bike was refused from the coach conveying
him to the airport, <strong>and</strong> another suVering DVT <strong>and</strong> almost dying (in the same month as another passenger
actually died after her trip) through a very unsatisfactory performance in accepting his bike on a journey
from CardiV to London. Tourism, <strong>and</strong> access to parts of the UK not served by rail, for those not able to
simply drive themselves <strong>and</strong> their bikes to the area, <strong>and</strong> to this end the provision of ticketing guarantees to
carry the bicycle, with provision that it is if necessary prepared to be loaded as luggage are something we
believe will make it possible for many to avoid the need to use cars to get around with their cycles.
Regional Express coach services tend to be more flexible, with less use of underfloor hold space, <strong>and</strong> we
underst<strong>and</strong> that some services are carrying as many as 8 bikes to popular areas, <strong>and</strong> not require the cycles
to be packed—appropriate given the shorter duration of the journey. <strong>Ticketing</strong> which assures the user <strong>and</strong>
makes the carrier aware of the traYc are needed.
National Express, like Virgin Trainline have a small inertia surcharge—travel insurance for 99p (£1) on
the fares being deducted—the purchaser has to be aware of this to avoid paying a cumulative charge on their
tickets (charge for each ticket sold).