that travel costs can't be pro-rated for part timers

[maltesermum]

I work 3 days a week and travel by train but I don't benefit from buying any type of season ticket, be it weekly, monthly or annual. I find it grossly unfair that in employment there is legislation to protect part timers from unfavourable treatment, but this seems to be one big loop hole where part timers are seriously disadvantaged.

It also works against legislation designed to encourage flexibility in the workplace which is currently being extended. This seems nonsensical.

Surely it should be possible to buy a season ticket which allows travel only on certain days, or a maximum number of days per year, at a pro-rata cost to an annual ticket? Or even to share a ticket with someone - after all, you're just buying one seat on the train.

I see your point, but there are other things that work in favour of part time workers. Think about the tax system, which taxes more the more you earn. A part timer will pay less tax, pro rata, than a full timer. Do you think that should be stopped too?

Personally i'd think of it as about quits between the two.

Please excuse me, as I am ridiculously dense when it comes to figures (really!) but surely if you earn less, you should be taxed less? And most earners doing equivalent jobs will be in the same tax bracket, so paying tax at the same basic rate regardless of the hours that they are doing?

The lower your income is the lower your tax bracket is. Person earning £1000 a week ft and person doing the same job 2 days a week earning £400 are not in the same tax bracket, ft worker is in higher bracket and pays more.

YABU You use a service but not that regularly that you are counted as someone that should be getting benefit of reduced travel. Even the trains has to make a profit if we start going down this lane we would start to have to give a discount to the person whom uses the train every Tuesday to go see his footie team because he is a "regular"

If you are near London look into Oyster cards and if not then find out if there is similar in your area.. There are often other ways of saving look into what your local area has available. However to expect to get a discount because you travel 3 times of week is not resonable IMO

YANBU.

IMHO you should be given a pro-rata amount towards your travel costs. Then it's up to you whether you spend it on an Oyster card, petrol, bus tickets etc.

I also agree that the tax system is fair. Any higher rate tax (or next level tax) does not apply to all of someone's earnings, only to what they earn over a certain amount. So like you, their earnings up to X amount will be tax free.

Someone going to watch footie is not the same as someone working and contributing to the economy and part time workers should be able to benefit from lower fares too. They are usually earning less money anyway and are paying taxes so why should they be excluded and be made to pay more for travel?

It's a total joke and affects women disproportionally as more do part time work. Therefore this is an equalities issue too.

Controls could be put in place i.e. a letter from an employer and perhaps batches of tickets could be bought at a lower price. In London you actually can get 3 day season tickets but not elsewhere as far as I know.

and part timers do use services regularly just not 5 days a week!

Coffee - ft employees do not get money given towards their travel costs so why should part-timers get it?

The point with season tickets is that you get a discount because you purchase a ticket for a certain period of time, makes no difference if you are employed/tourist/student etc. Those working 5 days a week don't get their ticket for 5 days, they get it either weekly/monthly/ annually and therefore also pay for the days (like Sat/Sun/sick days/holidays) that they do not travel.

Why don't you put the suggestion to the railway company? I expect there are quite a lot of part-time workers and the idea of a 3-day travel card or whatever it is you're proposing, could be attractive to more people than you. Although you'd have to anticipate that your 3-day ticket would still be pro-rata pricier than a 5-day ticket, even if it's cheaper than a 1-day ticket. That's how every volume-driven sales promotion works

I don't think the OP was suggesting help from her employers, more that there ought to be a season ticket type thing for 3 days or whathaveyou.

I can see that working to an extent, although it would have to specify days of the week otherwise you could use it every day and the conductor wouldn't necessariy know. Or you buy them per wk and the conductor ticks off each day it is used. I don't think the level of discount should be the same as for a full season ticket though, as that is worked out on the basis on the rail company having guaranteed business etc for that proportion of the week, which would be less for part-time.

No, not the OP, Coffeefestival

"IMHO you should be given a pro-rata amount towards your travel costs. Then it's up to you whether you spend it on an Oyster card, petrol, bus tickets etc."

Actually, someone going to the football would be contributing to the economy...just not that much.

I have thought this, as travelling in rush hour/peak time three days a week means you pay proportionately more of your salary as you don't benefit from the ten weeks' free travel you get with a season ticket.

But when you get in to nominating days etc it becomes very complicated, and I suspect that although the lack of 3-day tickets could be deemed to be discriminatory (as more women would buy them), the end result would be season ticket benefits being withdrawn for everyone, including people who have to work 5 days to support their families.

And then you have issues like people who work from home some days and not others, and it all becomes too complicated.

And I think the tax issue is a valid one - my F/T salary is into the 40% bracket I but work few enough hours to fall below the 40% threshold, so while I pay proportionately more for my travel for an equivalent colleague, I take home more of the day's pay than they do.

I think part-time working is something that our generation is the first to really benefit from, and there's a point of view that says we ought to be thankful for the opportunity rather than looking for more problems....

You mean 4 weeks' free travel that you get with a 12 month ticket?

I see your point but it would be a bit of a nightmare creating "three days a week" season tickets. Unless you knew that you only EVER wanted to go in on Monday, Tuesdays and Wednesdays and the ticket doesn't work at all in the barriers on Thursdays and Fridays. But for all I know, maybe the barriers don't even know what day of the week it is?

At the end of the day, train companies won't do it because they can make more money from you under the status quo. Sad but true.

We have tickets here that are for a set number of journeys, so you can buy a 10 journey ticket, or 30, or 50, and they get cheaper per journey. You just have to use them within a set time, like 6 months?

I was just thinking this the other day. I don't see why you can't buy a 7 day travel card on Oyster (for example - if you're not in London whatever the equivalent is) and use it for 7 separate days, not necessarily consecutive ones. It could have a validity period if they didn't want tourists to use it. I'm sure the technology exists and it is proportionately more expensive to travel to work 3 days a week.

If you are in London and want to pursue this cause, I am well up for it!

YANBU I used to be able to buy a five day a week "scholar's ticket" for my DS to take the train to school. In other words I only paid for the schoolday portion of the week, not the weekends. The train company withdrew it (boo) even though I phoned them (and the local education authority) and asked them to keep doing it.

The point of all this is it shows you can programme whatever you like into a ticket issuing system. If someone worked out they wanted a ticket for one calendar month, say, in which they would travel no more than three days a week with no weekends, why not create a tariff for that?
Train company is getting the money in advance and can offer a small discount in return.

I may be being stupid but I always thought that London Weighting was pro-rata-ed?

So part time workers in London DO get a 'travel allowance', dont they?

I commute into London 3 or 4 days a week (varies) but I need to buy a full season ticket.

It is a PITA financially but that's my choice to work that way and my choice where I live. The London Weighting part of salaries isn't just for travel - property, general cost of living etc.

It certainly isn't worth the rail companies doing a 3-day season ticket. It USED to be cheaper to buy 3 separate tickets each day if you worked 3 days a week, but they cottoned on that a lot of people were doing this and so restructured fares so that it is actually 'cheaper' to buy a full season. It's not just part time women doing this - lots of homeworking from men too you know.

I fare evade were I can... its far far cheaper.

Olderand wiser I am sure you can program whatever you want in the ticket issuing system but someone would need to spend a lot of time programming every possible combination of tickets. To do this just so that they can give a discount to someone who for example travels every 2nd and 4th Tuesday every two months surely is not a valid option from the train company's pov

By somebodysfool Wed 30-Jun-10 11:08:29
and part timers do use services regularly just not 5 days a week!

I cant believe that answer so basically the person whom uses the train on the 1st of every month whom due to this is also a regular should get a discount going with that?

The train company is not a charity its a public service that has to run at a PROFIT did any of you think about that???

I used to be able to buy a bus ticket that had 10 journeys on it. Maybe that would make more sense - not a time limited one, but a journey limited one, so everyone could buy a 100 jouney ticket, it would just last longer for the PT person.

i was so happy when oyster cards came out for this reason because i liked to cycle to work but couldn't always cycle so if i bought a season ticket i wasn't saving anything on the days i cycled.. it's not good for sustainable travel choices either.

but with a pre-paid oyster or a 'carnet' type system (reduced price for 10tickets) you can get some discount without having to travel every day.

but.. season tickets are reductions in fare for daily travellers.. no reason you'd get that if you don't travel daily.. the problem i think is just that 'normal' fares are so bloomin high!!!

friend of mine has just bought a train ticket from stockholm to oslo for about £40 - it can cost me £100 to get edinburgh to london!!!!!