Jump to content

Cheap Bus fares


craig12

Recommended Posts

Does anyone know why cheap bus fares were pulled, as i remember as a kid bus fares were subsidised, you could go round sheffield on 71 route for 2p the busses were packed to the rafters, if it was a profit loss , why did they subsidise them?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

does anyone know why cheap bus fares were pulled, as i remember as a kid bus fares were subsidised, you could go round sheffield on 71 route for 2p the busses were packed to the rafters, if it was a profit loss , why did they subsidise them?

The fares were heavily subsidised by South Yorkshire County Council (aka The People's Republic of South Yorkshire). This was in the days of Maggie Thatcher and Co. for whom the words 'Public transport' and 'subsidy' were anathema. So South Yorkshire was forced to drop it's cheap fares.

Then came deregulation and a free for all for bus companies. I remember just after deregulation walking down Arundel Gate one lunchtime and there was literally a solid wall of buses of many colours and companies from the Crucible to St Mary's roundabout, most with one or two or no passengers on board, and all pumping out diesel fumes choking anyone walking past. And they called it progress!

It was very expensive to subsidise the buses, but it got a lot of people out of their cars and onto public transport, the carrot method. Today unfortunately they only use the stick - make private transport so expensive people are forced to use public transport.

But I lived at High Storrs and worked in Hillsborough, and I could get a bus almost door-to-door for 10p each way. It was SYCC intention to eventually make the service free to all, but instead they got the chop!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest davekowl

Spot on Bayleaf. I used to work on the buses at the time of the cheap fares and the buses were always full.Then came the meddling from Thatcher and her cronies and as a result we're left with the mess that is called "public transport" now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...