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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To want to protest/complain at this 31% price rise?

28 replies

RagzReturnsRebooted · 14/10/2021 21:18

Bus driver informed my daughter that the weekly bus ticket will go up from £9.70 to £12.75 in two weeks time. Costing us an extra £10 a month (or £75 a year if you go my school weeks). Even the driver said he thought it was ridiculous. I checked their website and social media, no mention of price rises. That's really short notice in my opinion. Will also be annoying in terms of getting cash ready each weekend as at least now I can give her a tenner and it covers it.
It's the public bus and still cheaper than getting the actual school bus, which is about £700 a year so no one really uses it and I don't resent the cost itself (well, OK I do) so much as the huge increase in % terms.

I suggested some kind of protest but the DCs weren't in favour, so I will probably have to settle for ranting at them on Twitter (and a rather pointless AIBU thread on here!).
Angry

OP posts:
arethereanyleftatall · 14/10/2021 21:20

To be fair, petrol has gone up a lot recently.

Gothichouse40 · 14/10/2021 21:27

I really feel for you as bus fares are extortionate where I am. You could perhaps try writing to your local MP? That's about all I could think of to suggest. I know I got a shock the last time we filled our car with diesel. Can not believe how expensive it was and we have one small car.

MargaretFaffter · 14/10/2021 21:30

In fairness, their costs will have increased and the number of passengers has probably fallen. Or it could be blatant profiteering, but I suspect the former.

Original poster
RagzReturnsRebooted · 15/10/2021 07:32

@arethereanyleftatall

To be fair, petrol has gone up a lot recently.
By around 2-3%. Not 31%. Usually they put the price up by 10p a year!

I've emailed our Parish Council, County Council and our MP (who is also on the Transport Select Committee).

OP posts:
Original poster
RagzReturnsRebooted · 15/10/2021 07:33

Lots of parents with 2 DCs at the school are now thinking about driving. Which will add traffic and pollution.

OP posts:
Seeleyboo · 15/10/2021 07:36

I am in a similar situation OP. My children are entitled to the school bus. But as they moved the schools catchment recently i now have to pay £52 a month or move them to the new catchment school. There are no spaces btw.

TumtumTree · 15/10/2021 07:42

I assume the bus company lost money during the pandemic as public transport use has been massively lower than usual. Add that to rising fuel costs. It's a business and needs to make up its losses.

SerendipityJane · 15/10/2021 07:44

I suspect this is just the start/thin end of the wedge/you ain't seen nothing yet moment as the cost of living starts to spiral.

CareerConcerns1999 · 15/10/2021 07:49

Our local council is killing our roads to try and motivate people onto the (always late) buses. Failing to acknowledge that the return journey for one day = 1 weeks worth of fuel in my car for the same trips.

CHIRIBAYA · 15/10/2021 07:55

It's not just the increase in petrol prices, in our area there is a shortage of bus drivers; many services being cancelled at short notice. We were informed this week of an impending strike, which has since been averted, probably (and quite rightly) because the drivers have secured a decent payrise. I agree with others that this is just the beginning of an ongoing squeeze on incomes.

Porcupineintherough · 15/10/2021 08:12

Quite a few bus companies going under at the moment so unless you fancy driving her perhaps you should just suck up? You've already said it works out cheaper than the school bus.

AFuturisticalSound · 15/10/2021 08:18

Lots of bus issues in my area too, I'm sure there are a lot of factors. You'rereally lucky if fuel has only gone up 2-3%, it's been Moreton that here

Not that any of that makes it less annoying or more affordable to have an un-announced big increase in fares

EvilRingahBitch · 15/10/2021 08:25

Fuel prices have gone up by about 20% over the year.

TuftyMarmoset · 15/10/2021 08:30

It’s a big jump but still only £2.55 a day which doesn’t seem extortionate, is it a long journey?

SalsaLove · 15/10/2021 08:32

Our electric bill just doubled! Everyone is feeling the pinch

Cupidity · 15/10/2021 08:38

It will be because of a range of factors. Bus drivers are leaving to become lorry drivers, petrol prices have increased, bus companies lost money during the pandemic, etc.

Beseen22 · 15/10/2021 08:56

I recently priced a return ticket to my local city and it was £7 by train or £12 by bus. Admittedly I'm Scotland so the majority of bus users are probably non paying but I cannot think why anyone would sit on a bus for 20 minutes longer and pay £5 more.

HuckleberryJam · 15/10/2021 09:35

Yanbu. It's no good people pretending they care about climate change and then saying it's fine for public transport to be hugely more expensive than driving.

itsallgoingpearshaped · 15/10/2021 09:50

YANBU because it's awful that anyone under 18 in full time education has to pay to use public transport. We had to stump up £600 for an annual bus pass for the year for our sixth former to get to his school; and it would have been even more had we bought termly passes!

Original poster
RagzReturnsRebooted · 16/10/2021 13:45

So I got a response from the bus company. Apparently the price rise is to bring it in line with another company that does the same route (except it doesn't go to the school and not until later in the day).
They said they aren't allowed to undercut them.

Now, isn't that just price fixing? Supermarkets are allowed to price lower than others, so are lots of things. I don't really understand this as an answer!

OP posts:
alrightfella · 16/10/2021 15:10

£9.70 a week?

My 16yr old daughters bus ticket is £8.50 a day!

That is just for a normal public bus that she catches to sixth form college 15 miles away.

We bought the annual ticket which was £1k but she can get on any bus in the county for that 🙄

Public transport prices in this country are ridiculous

Original poster
RagzReturnsRebooted · 16/10/2021 15:13

@alrightfella

£9.70 a week?

My 16yr old daughters bus ticket is £8.50 a day!

That is just for a normal public bus that she catches to sixth form college 15 miles away.

We bought the annual ticket which was £1k but she can get on any bus in the county for that 🙄

Public transport prices in this country are ridiculous

Yikes! Maybe I'm just really out of touch with public transport prices as we don't really have much of it here. It's not the price so much as the fact they are increasing 31% in one go. With 2 weeks notice.
OP posts:
TuftyMarmoset · 16/10/2021 22:52

I live in a large town with a well-developed (and well-used) bus network. Fares here for under 18s are £1.50 for a single/£2.70 for a day ticket/£12 for a week, so yours is roughly in line with here.

PlanDeRaccordement · 16/10/2021 23:18

@RagzReturnsRebooted

So I got a response from the bus company. Apparently the price rise is to bring it in line with another company that does the same route (except it doesn't go to the school and not until later in the day). They said they aren't allowed to undercut them.

Now, isn't that just price fixing? Supermarkets are allowed to price lower than others, so are lots of things. I don't really understand this as an answer!

Typically buses are contracted by your local council and part of the public contract will have specified the exact charges to the public all the companies on the same route have to charge.
mummyh2016 · 16/10/2021 23:24

Bus drivers are leaving our local bus companies in droves as they can demand higher wages as HGV drivers. You might find that the increase in fair is down to pay rises to keep the drivers they have.