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

Ev 190 Transport Committee: Evidence
Memor<strong>and</strong>um from UNISON (TPT 39)
UNISON members work for a wide range of transport organisations, particularly Passenger Transport
Executives, bus companies, British Waterways <strong>and</strong> regional airports. Their jobs include professional,
managerial, administrative, clerical, manual <strong>and</strong> engineering roles. In addition to negotiating pay, terms <strong>and</strong>
conditions, UNISON works on diVerent priority issues for each group of members, <strong>and</strong> contributes to
relevant policy debates <strong>and</strong> consultations.
We welcome the opportunity to submit this short response to the Transport Select Committee enquiry
into ticketing. In terms of our overall position, we should state at the outset that we do strongly support
smart card technology. However, we do believe that the benefits of such schemes can be diminished as a
consequence of:
— insuYcient funding of such schemes. Our members report that equipment can be prohibitively
expensive <strong>and</strong> that planned projects appear to suVer from what seem like “permanent” delays; <strong>and</strong>
— inadequate ticketing information, which we believe to be almost inevitable in the context of our
fragmented public transport system.
We also wish to state at the outset that we do welcome the government’s commitment to concessionary
travel, <strong>and</strong> believe that this should be exp<strong>and</strong>ed across modes of transport, adequately funded from central
government <strong>and</strong> administered at a local level.
Responses to Specific Questions
1. Is ticketing suYciently integrated across diVerent models of transport <strong>and</strong> between diVerent geographical
areas?
We do not believe that ticketing is suYciently integrated between modes of transport <strong>and</strong> or
geographical areas.
There are some good schemes provided for travel within certain local authorities <strong>and</strong> PTEs, eg
Derbyshire, Nottingham, West Midl<strong>and</strong>s <strong>and</strong> Greater Manchester. However, even where there is a degree
of integration, as with the above, we find that some schemes are only available as day tickets <strong>and</strong> some are
only available after the morning peak. Many local authorities do not oVer any multi-operator/modal tickets,
eg StaVordshire, Leicestershire <strong>and</strong> Nottinghamshire. Bus operators tend to oVer day tickets for unlimited
travel, but they are only valid on their networks <strong>and</strong> not accepted by other operators. Rail operators oVer
network tickets, but these tend not to be well promoted. In certain areas PlusBus tickets are available, but
only as add-ons to rail tickets.
Integrated bus/train ticketing will not succeed until there are more services in the early morning <strong>and</strong>
during the evening to enable passengers to get to <strong>and</strong> from the rail station.
We believe that if we are to meet the challenges set out in the Eddington Report, or address the Stern
agenda, the Government needs to do more to support integrated ticketing. We note that Putting Passengers
First concluded that one of the key reasons leading to the decline in bus services has been lack of seamless
journeys caused by network deficiencies <strong>and</strong> lack of through ticketing.
The planning process, particularly where this relates to new housing growth areas, should ensure that
integrated transport is a fundamental part of planning gain supplement funded infrastructure in order to
support sustainable communities.
2. Does the Government have an adequate strategy for developing the integration of ticketing systems?
A lot depends on the definition of integration. Is it expecting fares to be available from anywhere to
everywhere? This would be diYcult to implement because of the amount of memory required by the ticket
machines. Also, who would set the fares? While rail fares are controlled centrally (with some controlled by
the operators), bus fares are controlled by the bus operators, with local authorities responsible for tendered
routes (which can lead to diVerent fares for the same journey). How would operators be reimbursed, bearing
in mind the complex variety of fares available?
If it means the extension of the Oyster card, which would be easier for passengers to use, the passenger
could have no idea how much the journey costs. Again, can it cope with complex fare structures?
Overall we do not get a sense that the government has a strategy for developing integrated ticket systems
<strong>and</strong> addressing the questions set out above. We note that this issue was not covered at all in Putting
Passengers First.