Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be annoyed that childrens bus fare is not half of adult fare

54 replies

Kathrina · 04/09/2009 15:24

To be annoyed that when i pay for my childrens bus fare it is not half as stated it should be! I pay £1.70 adult and i pay £1.15 for my 2 eldest children costing £4.00 when it is cheaper to actually get a taxi. (£3.00) to the same destination. Since when has £1.15 been half of £1.70???

OP posts:
heronsfly · 04/09/2009 15:41

An adult fare to the town here is £1.10 and an half fare is 55p,what really winds me up is that between 7/9.30am and 2.30/4oc pm,we have to pay full fare for the children,I hate the buses but really have no option at times.

Original poster
Kathrina · 04/09/2009 15:47

I prefer the bus to a taxi and the kids see it as an adventure too bit unfair to charge so much and be misleading.

But we don't have that where they charge you more certain times of the day.

OP posts:
claw3 · 04/09/2009 15:51

Children travel for free in London. Adults pay £2

Original poster
Kathrina · 04/09/2009 15:55

That is really good claw3. Think i am being ripped off!!

OP posts:
ramonaquimby · 04/09/2009 15:56

£1 with an oyster card

(london)

TrillianAstra · 04/09/2009 15:58

Does it actually say "half fare"? If so, YANBU.

If it says "child fare" or similar then YABU. It's not as if children take up half a seat.

Original poster
Kathrina · 04/09/2009 16:00

Luckily i don't use a bus in term time as my childrens school is not on a bus route really. And my eldest daughter only lives around the corner from her high school which is lucky. It is just to take them on day trips and by the time i have forked out bus fair it is pointless going anywhere!

OP posts:
SpawnChorus · 04/09/2009 16:00

heronsfly that is really crap!

Original poster
Kathrina · 04/09/2009 16:01

Yes it does for children 5-15 yrs it says half adult fare!

OP posts:
bruffin · 04/09/2009 16:02

They do not travel free in london unless they have an oyster card. I live just over the border of London and last time I got a bus from inside London I had to pay full price for my dc's who are 11 and 13. To get an Oystercard for them i have to jump through hoops ie apply on line and the make an appointment at liverpool station in 2 or 3 weeks to pick up the card.

To get half price tickets on the bus in Herts where we live I still have to get them a photo card but it's just a matter of posting it off.

claw3 · 04/09/2009 16:12

Katrina - It is really good, once they reach secondary school age or want to travel without a parent, they have to get an oyster card, its like an id card.

But God forbid if they lose it or if it doesnt register on the card wipe thing, they have to pay adult price £2

TheDMshouldbeRivened · 04/09/2009 16:31

thats remarkably cheap fares. Here its £4.70 for adults and £2. something for children.
I'm more pissed off that 16 yo's have to pay adult fare.
London bus fares are very cheap

tethersend · 04/09/2009 16:35

Thank Ken for that one, DM

bruffin · 04/09/2009 16:41

Ken actually put the fares up for children in London. The price went up from £2 to £5 for a travel card a few years back for a travel card. He was also responisble for my train fares going up 33 % in one year because of TFL creating a " zone 7" which included stations just outside london. This zone 7 is still not properly in existance but we have been paying for the privilage of having it for 3 years at least.

tethersend · 04/09/2009 16:55

The initial price of a travelcard is irrelevant IMO: That one-off payment entitles under 16s to free travel on all buses. That's a good deal whichever way you look at it. He brought in free travel for under 16s; previously, they had to pay half fare.

I didn't know about zone 7. I still think he did great things for London- appreciate that not everyone will agree with me!

tethersend · 04/09/2009 16:57

He also brought in the £2 (£1 with oyster) flat bus fare for adults- a great idea IMO.

ErikaMaye · 04/09/2009 17:01

UGH public transport fares are rediculous.

Here (Brighton-way) its 90p for a child single, £1.70 for an adult. With a Bus-ID for residents its 50p until 16, then you have to BUY a Bus-ID+ for it to stay at 50p till 18.

Don't get me started on train fares.

Jackstini · 04/09/2009 17:05

Am intrigued as to why you don't get a taxi if it's cheaper..?

themildmanneredjanitor · 04/09/2009 17:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

IneedacleanerIamalazyslattern · 04/09/2009 17:34

Here I can buy and all day ticket for £3 for adult (after 9.30 am) and £2 for children.
That allows you to hop on and off any bus all day.
If Dh, the dc's and I go out together we can get a family day ticket for £5 sam applies any bus all day so not actually that bad really.

WebDude · 04/09/2009 19:34

Minimum fare (here in N Wales) is 1.30 for a single stop.

To town (perhaps 10 stops, and a longer router than walking, but an hours walkfor an adult) costs 1.70

Catching the train it's 70p single, 80p return, but only 1 per hour each way, where buses are 4 per hour (but rarely full, except morn/eve rush). As you can guess, train is my preferred option, only 'cos council subsidy makes the fares that low.

Sorry to read of the high costs so many have to face.

Jackstini this it was because the bus can be deemed adventure.

When I was young it was a treat to go on the open-top bus through Hove into Brighton. Always enjoyed looking out for a 'fork' shaped tree (3 prongs) in the Hove 'dead centre' (cemetery).

Must admit it was sometimes a real 'wake up' if they were short of buses and you had to go upstairs on an open-top on the way to school around 8.15 in the morning on a 'fresh' spring morning!

bruffin · 04/09/2009 19:39

tethersend if a child is over a 11 they can't get free fares in London unless they have an oystercard. If you live just outside London and travel into London by bus they have to pay adult fares, how can that be fare.
It's not easy to get an oystercard for an teenager who lives outside London.
My children were in primary school and still had to pay full adult fare how can that be right.It is difficult enough to apply for an oyster card for an 11 year old and that's if the website works!
If you don't have an oystercard the fares are exorbitant he regularly put the fares up by rates far higher than inflation.

Last time I got a bus it cost me £12 for the 3 of us to go from Waltham Cross to Enfield. I will nolonger be getting buses in London unless I have a all day travel card from the train.
It only costs me £12 for the 3 of us to buy a family travel card to travel all day in London by bus, train and tube if I get it from my local station in Herts. If I bought the same ticket from where my mum lives in London it would cost me £22.

tethersend · 04/09/2009 19:53

bruffin I appreciate that living outside London and applying for an oystercard is difficult, but this does not make the scheme a bad idea. It is really straightforward to get one when you live in London.

Ken doesn't do anything with fares anymore- Boris's job now

Original poster
Kathrina · 04/09/2009 19:57

I suppose i want my children to used public transport when older and not have to rely on taxi's as a means of transport. The government are always saying we should use public transport but yet the fares are really expensive. One thing i dont understand and i apologise if i cause offence now is why do the over 60's have free bus passes but have to pay for children?

OP posts:
bruffin · 04/09/2009 20:04

All the damage to those of us who live outside London was done under Ken! I wouldn't mind but he was responsible for the huge rise in my fares to work and I could not even vote for him.
My train fare to work in London went from £7.10 to £9.20 a day in one go. This was because of Ken Livingstones policies. Fares from one of the other local train stations went up by 45% overnight.