Are we being taken for a ride?

BOSSES at First, the company running most of York's buses, knew their January 1 price rises were not going to be popular.

Children were hardest hit, with the price of a single child's ticket almost doubling.

But most customers buying single and return tickets also suffered as the company sought to protect its profits in the face of higher fuel, maintenance and insurance costs.

"We knew that we were going to get a reaction," admits Peter Edwards, First commercial director.

Even so, they probably didn't anticipate quite the level of vitriol the fare hikes would generate.

The Evening Press was flooded with letters.

"The First Group, which makes a very large profit from public transport across the country, is biting the hand that feeds it," wrote Paul Cunniff, of Acomb.

"So the bus fares are going up yet again? This is just getting stupid," added Chris Nelson, of Byland Avenue.

"This is hardly the way to tempt motorists out of their cars," pointed out A Dobinson, from Acomb.

The city's politicians were also not pleased. Coun Ann Reid, the city's Liberal Democrat transport chief, pronounced herself "disappointed". Labour's transport spokeswoman Tracey Simpson-Laing said the increases were "unreasonable and will have a particularly significant impact on families with children". She called for an annual cross-party meeting at which bus bosses would have to explain their fare increases to councillors.

Now York Greens have gone even further, asking City of York Council to look at the possibility of a Quality Bus Contract - which would mean the authority could effectively dictate the kind of bus service it wanted.

Green leader Coun Andy D'Agorne said: "First has a near-monopoly on buses in the city and these price rises seriously undermine our efforts to encourage public transport," It is 20 years since buses were de-regulated. So has the time come for local authorities to take buses back under their own control?

Or is there anything else that can be done to ensure a better deal for passengers?

The situation now

MOST services in York are operated by First, with companies such as Coastliner and Arriva operating a few routes.

Except in the case of Park & Ride, where First delivers a service to York council's specifications, bus companies do not have contracts to operate services. They simply register routes with the traffic commissioners and, as long as they comply with health and safety and other regulations, are then free to operate services.

"If Mr Bloggs came along and said he wanted to run buses on the same routes as existing operators he could do it, so long as he fulfilled the same criteria," says Coun Reid.

Market forces rule: if you think you could make a living running buses in York, there is nothing to stop you trying.

York council has no power to influence the fares First or other bus companies charge, although it does subsidise a few uncommercial routes. Bus companies simply have to notify the authority in advance what their new fares will be.

First York commercial boss Mr Edwards insists the fares First charges are determined by the market. The company made a profit of just over £1m in the last full financial year, on a turnover of about £16m, he says. He is not about to apologise for that. "We're a plc. If we weren't making a profit we would be failing our shareholders."

Inevitably, Mr Edwards says, First fares have to reflect the cost of running buses. Those costs have been rising "quite significantly" - not only fuel, but also maintenance and insurance costs.

Not all bus fares went up, he insists, (although most did) and if passengers buy weekly or monthly tickets they can make big savings - a way, he says, of "rewarding customer loyalty".

Overall, Mr Edwards says, York has managed to buck a national trend which has seen bus passenger numbers slump since de-regulation in the mid 1980s. While Sheffield lost ten million bus passengers last year (see panel), York has seen passengers numbers grow by 45 per cent since 1991, Mr Edwards says.

The city also has one of the most modern fleets in the country, he points out.

While passenger numbers continue to grow, however, that growth has now slowed. That is one reason the Greens are keen for York council to have more say on the city's buses. With massive developments such as York Central in the pipeline, it is more important than ever to get people out of cars and on to buses, says Coun D'Agorne, or the city faces grinding to a standstill in a massive traffic jam. A big hike in fares is not the way to do that.

Possible ways forward

Bus contracts

Under the Transport Act 2000, local authorities can apply to set up Quality Bus Contracts - which is what the Greens are asking York to consider.

Such contracts would work much like the York Park & Ride. The council would be able to specify the type of bus service it wanted - including routes, and frequency of buses and fares - then invite bus companies to bid for a five-year franchise to operate those services.

First insists such a contract would not permit a local authority to fix fares. But David Brown, director of the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive, which is looking into setting up just such a contract for bus services in South Yorkshire, disagrees.

"Local authorities could specify what they liked," he says. "Frequency, route, type of vehicle and fare."

There are two main problems, however. First, local authorities are only permitted to set such contracts up if they can demonstrate they are the only practicable way to deliver a decent bus service.

Despite the recent price rises in York, that clearly isn't the case here, Coun Reid says - where we have modern buses and growing numbers of passengers.

Second, setting up such a contract could involve huge expense for the council and so for the council taxpayer.

Authorities running such contracts could find themselves having to subsidise fares, Coun Reid says, and even possibly having to buy or lease their own buses.

Mr Brown says there could be cost implications. But there could also be efficiency savings, he says, because you would no longer have two or three operators competing to run services on the same route.

Coun D'Agorne points out that the Park & Ride service in York breaks even - so there is no reason why a wider bus contract shouldn't.

Child subsidies

York's Labour MP Hugh Bayley, after talks with the council's Labour group and the authority's director of city strategy Bill Woolley, is hoping to meet First to discuss the future of the city's buses. Two issues will be high on the agenda:

- Child subsidies

- A requirement for bus companies to properly consult local authorities before setting new fares.

Some local authorities, such as South Yorkshire, do subsidise children's fares. Historically, York hasn't done so - and to suddenly start now would be a huge drain on finances at a time when the budget is already tight.

From April this year, however, under a national scheme that will cost local authorities nothing, central government will be paying for all pensioners to travel free on buses.

Mr Bayley says that, after talks with First, he might be prepared to raise the idea of a similar national scheme to subsidise children's fares which would cost the council nothing. Such a scheme would, however, place a big burden on the taxpayer nationally, he warns.

He also plans to ask First whether it would be willing to consult with the local authority more fully before introducing new fares.

First insists it did inform City of York Council of its fare increases. As a commercial operation, the company would not be prepared to negotiate fares with the council, Mr Edwards said. It is, however, looking at the possibility of family tickets which would involve big discounts for children travelling with adults.

Fuel duty

ANN Reid says it is "iniquitous" that bus companies to have to pay duty on fuel (even though they get most of it back) when airlines pay none.

If Mr Bayley were serious about public transport, he should be pressing his Government to introduce fuel duty on air travel, which could be used to subsidise other forms of public transport, she said. "That, in one fell swoop, would help."

It wouldn't work, Mr Bayley says, because by their nature airlines are international operations. Deciding how much duty airlines should pay to each government would be a nightmare, and governments would end up squabbling about how much they got in much the way EU countries squabble over agricultural subsidies now.

The situation in South Yorkshire

FIRST, which runs the bulk of buses in South Yorkshire, put up fares there four times last year. It also changed timetables four times, and reduced the number of services, according to David Brown, director of the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (PTE).

According to Sheffield Greens, the number of bus journeys passengers made slumped by ten million in only one year as a result.

Coun Terry Fox, cabinet member for transport on Sheffield City Council, said members of the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority had passed a motion of no confidence in First as a result.

The PTE, the executive arm of the Passenger Transport Authority, is now looking seriously at the possibility of introducing a Quality Bus Contract to improve the service - making it one of the first transport authorities in the country to do so.

Mr Brown said it was looking to continental Europe for advice, because such 'franchise' systems operated widely there.

The PTE is also looking into setting up voluntary or statutory partnerships - less rigorous partnerships with bus companies.

Updated: 08:57 Wednesday, January 25, 2006