ACTION fare increase - from 1 July 2010

I’ve been catching the bus for the last 2 weeks. I have paid once. Every other time the driver has pointed to the broken ticket machine (sometimes the space where it would be, as it’s gone) and said “broken again, it’s free today”.

When I was a youngster, the tickets were paper….. They don’t have anything printed on them saying that they are not valid…..

Should I start using the last book?

Genie said :

ANYWAY ! Does anyone know if ACTION will honour old bus passes ?? I mean, say I have a 10 ride ticket purchased on the current prices and as of 1st July I still have rides left is my ticket still valid ?

To answer your question with a question: do you think that ACTION’s ticketing equipment knows how much you paid for your ticket?

To answer with an answer: yes. If you want to save yourself a few dollars (and only a few), go out and buy as many pre-paid tickets as you can afford to beat the price rise.

JessP, why don’t you try catching the 749 which goes from Belconnen straight to Woden? That way you won’t have to stop at CISAC, UC, Radford, Calvary, ANU, the city (for up to 5 minutes) and then down to Woden interchange and spend more than an hour on the bus.

haha it is cheaper to drive to work in Woden than take the bus!!

I have to say I would love to catch a bus to work each day but I live in Belconnen and work in Woden.

The narks will say – thats not far but after you catch the local bus from near home (which is at least a 3 series going through to Tuggers) and navigate to Belconnen interchanges…all bloody 3 of them…..then stop at CISAC, UC, Radford, Calvary, ANU, the city (for up to 5 minutes) and then down to Woden interchange you can spend more than an hour on the bus.

And I can drive here in 30-ish minutes (I leave early in the morning). OK I have to pay for parking but my time is valuable!! Hapily caught the bus when I worked in Civic but for Woden….errr NO.

Skidbladnir said :

Swan said :

Action Buses: The worst public transport in the world.

Hilarious.
I just got back from Laos, I disagree.

Me: “Maybe my language skills aren’t up to scratch, but did you just say this 100km trip will take eight hours by public bus?”
Booking Agent: “Yes, your other options are the tourist bus which will cost $6 more and only take seven hours (the seats are leather and have more padding), or the one most locals use, which is $2 cheaper but takes ten hours (bench seats and no air conditioning).”

Haha I too took that bus… Paid the extra few dollars, then promptly got on the wrong damn bus. So much fun sitting next to guys with machine guns for 8 hours all because the useless males you were with jumped on the first bus they saw.

ANYWAY ! Does anyone know if ACTION will honour old bus passes ?? I mean say I have a 10 ride ticket purchased on the current prices and as of 1st July I still have rides left is my ticket still valid ?

Blingerific

Ok smart arse, what I should have said was, that I don’t travel by bus locally, but on the night I used public transport as it was cheaper than catching a taxi home as my car was parked at home.

And your point is? Are you a professor? Are you always so pedantic?

I’m in a bit of a bus dilemma at the moment, on this note.

Currently work in Civic and live in Tuggeranong. Xpresso bus service gets me to Civic in about an hour, door to door (sometimes 1h15m in morning traffic). $24.50 a week at current prices, no worries, much cheaper than running a car and takes only slightly longer once you factor walking from the carpark to the office etc (I’ve timed it many times).

But I’m about to take up a job in Woden. Closer to home, you say, you beaut. Except without the express bus, it still takes….about an hour door to door. I’ve timed the same trip by car as being about 20 minutes when there’s not much traffic, and 30 at worst; and parking is a lot cheaper in Woden.

Part of me wants to keep doing the environmentally friendly bus thing…the other half of me would like an extra hour a day to spend at home with my wife and two kids. What to do?

Goddamn italics.
If you live and work in major centres (easy straight trips) then the bus is far cheaper and usually just as easy.
When you don’t however, the bus can be more expensive if you value your time at any sort of decent rate.
As for the actual increase, meh I don’t think the extra 70c for a Faresaver 10 is going to send anyone to the soup kitchen.

Blingerific said :

paservank
Why would anyone want to catch the bus when for the same price they can drive whenever and wherever they want instead of waiting for an hour in the cold?!?!

Ok, maybe my maths isn’t the greatest but work with me here. My weekly bus fare is $27, two trips a day, one from work, one to work, occasionally I’ll combine that with the bus direct from the city to home if the weather is particularly crappy. To drive the same distance each week costs me about $50 in petrol and wear and tear on the car ($200 plus a tyre, oil, filters, pollution (ref Quantum last night) waste of resources we don’t have etc).

Now, if the internet, twelve years of schooling, 19 years working in aviation, a trade, most of a post-grad degree and 37 years of life are correct; Isn’t driving to and from work roughly twice as expensive as the bus? AND by driving I don’t get an hours exercise (30 minutes walk each way for the direct bus). As Woody says, harden the fugg up! And learn to count.

If you live and work in major centres (easy straight trips) then the bus is far cheaper and usually just as easy.
When you don’t however, the bus can be more expensive if you value your time at any sort of decent rate.
As for the actual increase, meh I don’t think the extra 70c for a Faresaver 10 is going to send anyone to the soup kitchen.

really stings anyone who is new to the buses. Not a way to increase patronage I would have thought.

“How much?”
“$4.”
“My, that’s steep.”
“It’s much cheaper if you buy a Faresaver ticket.”
“Thanks, I’ll do that!”

“I think I’ll start catching the bus. I wonder if there’s a website for ACTION? I wonder if it has ticket prices? I wonder if I’ll be smart enough to work out which ticket option is cheaper? I worry that I’m one of the apparently brain-dead sloths that constitute most of Canberra’s population, according to sepi. You know, the one’s who think 20c ‘really stings’. I’m amazed I find my way out of the shower without drowning.”

Swan said :

Action Buses: The worst public transport in the world.

Hilarious.
I just got back from Laos, I disagree.

Me: “Maybe my language skills aren’t up to scratch, but did you just say this 100km trip will take eight hours by public bus?”
Booking Agent: “Yes, your other options are the tourist bus which will cost $6 more and only take seven hours (the seats are leather and have more padding), or the one most locals use, which is $2 cheaper but takes ten hours (bench seats and no air conditioning).”

paservank said :

I think the problem is not so much the small price increase, but rather the large absolute price!

Why would anyone want to catch the bus when for the same price they can drive whenever and wherever they want instead of waiting for an hour in the cold?!?!

Haven’t ACTION heard the old saying, “good, cheap, fast – pick any two”? Hell, they don’t even have ONE of those!!!

+1 Paservank

The muppets at the council couldn’t organise their way out of a wet paper bag, let alone act strategically. I love Canberra, but sometimes the way things are done here are so embarrassing.

I dunno – costwise, my very short trip to work is probably genuinely cheaper in my small car. Certainly my trip to the shops in the next suburb would be cheaper in the car. 4.00 to get on a bus for 5 minutes to go down the road to grab some milk is ridiculous.

Hey Swan,

No, there are worse.

Try the Iranian border to Herat, Afghanistan Mercedes. A goat with its bum between my legs, the driver and most passengers on some drug, no windows, and I have no idea how many on the roof.

Good fun.

paservank
Why would anyone want to catch the bus when for the same price they can drive whenever and wherever they want instead of waiting for an hour in the cold?!?!

Ok, maybe my maths isn’t the greatest but work with me here. My weekly bus fare is $27, two trips a day, one from work, one to work, occasionally I’ll combine that with the bus direct from the city to home if the weather is particularly crappy. To drive the same distance each week costs me about $50 in petrol and wear and tear on the car ($200 plus a tyre, oil, filters, pollution (ref Quantum last night) waste of resources we don’t have etc).

Now, if the internet, twelve years of schooling, 19 years working in aviation, a trade, most of a post-grad degree and 37 years of life are correct; Isn’t driving to and from work roughly twice as expensive as the bus? AND by driving I don’t get an hours exercise (30 minutes walk each way for the direct bus). As Woody says, harden the fugg up! And learn to count.

Swan
Action Buses: The worst public transport in the world.
Not caught buses in India, Nepal, or the US huh? I have and Action = living.

Action Buses: The worst public transport in the world.

Yebbut, my point is, this new fare system doesn’t get much more money out of regular bus users, who understand the ticketing system, but really stings anyone who is new to the buses. Not a way to increase patronage I would have thought.

sepi said :

4.00 each way is 8.00 a day

No, it’s not. A day ticket will be $7.60. Or $5.04 for 2 ‘Faresaver’ rides; or $4.60 (approx) for a monthly ticket (based on 20 working days per month).

Paying cash more than once per day is both the most expensive option and the slowest.

gooterz said :

Wont they be changing again soon with the new ticket system.. Plus the cost of having a new ad campain to display the new ticket.

I’m still suprised you can’t purchase tickets from vending machines on the platforms!
In most major cities you catch a train and the ticket machine is right there!

The new ticketing equipment will not be changing the fares – just the manner in which they are sold. If you have a ‘MyWay’ card, then you won’t need a ticket vending machine, just a ticket top-up machine at Interchanges (not that I’m saying those will exist either); but with single-trip cash fares a nice round number (less change needed), on-bus cash fares should be quicker than they are now.

Woody Mann-Caruso said :

$5 return, express route straight to office, no parking, no petrol, wife gets the car, no brainer.

Well la-di-da!

My bus is 1 hour from home to job A (about half that by car and free parking)
Then another hour and a transfer to job B (about 10 mins by car and free parking)
Then it had better be a quiet night at job B and finish up early otherwise I’m stranded and it’s a 2 hour walk home in the cold.

There are reasons people drive, I’m guessing your wife has pretty good reasons. Personally I’d much rather catch the bus, all that working makes me too damn tired to drive!

Clearly, the buses are targeted at people who have a jumper, can do basic math and have learned to harden the f*ck up a bit (‘I’ve been sitting all day, and I’m damned if I’m going to stand now!’). Maybe you could join them, hysterical punctuator!>!?/1

$5 return, express route straight to office, no parking, no petrol, wife gets the car, no brainer.

I think the problem is not so much the small price increase, but rather the large absolute price!

Why would anyone want to catch the bus when for the same price they can drive whenever and wherever they want instead of waiting for an hour in the cold?!?!

Haven’t ACTION heard the old saying, “good, cheap, fast – pick any two”? Hell, they don’t even have ONE of those!!!

Cleo
I never travel on the bus, but got the shuttle from the airport and then a bus to where I wanted to go,

So you never travel on the bus? Except for the times you travel on the bus? That’s very quantum of you I must say! Do you also own a cat that is both dead and alive?

I never travel on the bus, but got the shuttle from the airport and then a bus to where I wanted to go, I must admit the drivers were very pleasant, and I was offered help with my suitcase by the driver and then a young man, so I’m very surprised.

Wont they be changing again soon with the new ticket system.. Plus the cost of having a new ad campain to display the new ticket.

I’m still suprised you can’t purchase tickets from vending machines on the platforms!
In most major cities you catch a train and the ticket machine is right there!

Its amazing at the sustainable transport summit (joke) they claimed that by making Action bus fares ZERO they would increase patronage by 2% so the $60M a year we waste on buses will be used less than they are now.

Love this forward thinging in reverse.

One way to make you feel better about driving to work

Usually I try out the bus once in a blue moon when my car is in for a service, or I get the guilts about the environment. Every time it costs way more than I remember the last time, and that is just one more reason for me to resolve not to bother with it.

4.00 each way is 8.00 a day – compared to 10.00 a day parking, and getting to leave when I want to, not stand around freezing at the busstop, and stay seated all the way to work = ACTION is just not in the competition at the moment.

Wow, my weekly trips to work will set me back a whole ‘nother 70cents huh? Well, that’s one less um, er, hmmm, yes well, not an impact…

+1 WMC.

Srsly folks. Build a bridge. It’s still loads cheaper than driving (cue “but I have kids/I have to catch 87 buses/ACTION sucks/I’ll niver catch the loser cruiser/etc).

I have to say, Woody, I really enjoy your angry, made up conversations.

Seriously!

“I think I’ll try out the buses after using a car for ages!”
“That’ll be $4.”
“I thought it was $3.80?”
“No, it went up 20 cents.”
“BLURGHL I’M OUTRAGED AND WILL NEVAR CATH TEH BUS AGIN!1!’

“How much for a single?”
“$4.”
“BLRUHAHF THATS FIDDY CENTS MORE DEN LONDN IM CATCHEN DER PLANE NOW”

Jesus you people stretch a long bow sometimes.

That 4.00 single ticket is going to put people off who try out the buses after using a car for ages.
Meanwhile existing customers all use multi tix.
ACTION shoot themselves in the foot yet again.

So now it’s 50c -more- for a single trip than in LONDON, one of the most expensive cities in the world. If don’t pay cash and have a topped-up Oyster card, you pay the equivalent of $2.10 for a single trip, and a maximum cap of $6.80 for a day’s travel (on buses, tube is more). This is not including 7-day or monthly concessions. Way to encourage people on buses here in Canberra, eh?

I also don’t understand why the 10 ride ticket is so under-priced compared to a single ride. In most places, a 10 ride ticket gets you a couple of free journeys – it’s not nearly half-price. The big discounts are with the monthly passes.

Yeah, that extra 70c on a Faresaver 10 will really break the bank.

I can’t believe this. The government is raising prices on parking in the city to make parking more available and to provide more of an incentive for people to use public transport and then Action goes and raises it fares!!! The bus schedules are far from perfect and yet they want to force more people to use them and at a higher price. Am I missing something here?