My son was moaning about the price of a bus fare into Shipley yesterday.
"It's not like that in Bath," he says, "we have competition there."
It would appear that an enterprising bus operator has put on blue buses undercutting First's orange buses (these colours must be a Bath thing) on the popular trip from Bath itself up to the university. Back to my son:
"The blue buses charge £1.50 return, " he says, "compared to £1.95 for the orange buses. All the freshers who live on campus are waiting for the blue bus now."
And it gets better!
"The orange buses have announced a price cut to £1.50 return," says Jethro, "and the blue buses are offering a return of just £1 after 7.00pm!"
So there you are guys, competition works. And works quickly to the benefit of the consumer.
Health? Education? Bring it on!
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2 comments:
Haha, fantastic! Bristol urgently needs such a system. All we have are First buses, and a uni run Ulink system. First are, as ever, a rip off, and ulink isn't too bad- but, of course, competition works in favour of consumers...
Look at what is happening in Leeds as a good example. First Buses have won the tender for most of the METRO networks in Leeds, and bus prices are increasing, and the services poorer.
I'd like to see more competition so we have choice. I'd also like some of the money that First are making to train their drives because their customer service skills are shocking.
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