People are saying 'it’s only 25p’ – E&I vice-president
BUS travel will still be affordable, even with Puffin Pass journeys going up by 33%, Environment & Infrastructure vice-president Adrian Gabriel has said.
E&I has put forward an array of proposals for fare increases, with standard journeys set to rise from £1.25 to £1.50 from October, while Puffin Pass journeys could go up from 75p a journey to £1.
Deputy Gabriel said it was about pricing the journeys responsibly.
‘It is going to be more than people are used to, but it is about taking a responsible approach,’ he said.
‘It is still an affordable service – I think £1.50 is affordable.’
He said while no members of the public had spoken to him about the proposals yet, he had spoken to some friends.
‘Most of them said it is only 25p,’ he said.
‘Some of them said “£1.50? – I pay double that for a cup of coffee”. That’s the message coming back to me.’
He said he did appreciate that it might affect people on lower wages differently, but E&I had been asked to make the savings by Policy & Resources.
‘We looked at our costs and services, and one of the expensive ones for E&I is the bus contract,’ he said.
He said committee members had carefully debated the correct prices for standard tickets and Puffin pass journeys.
‘When you look at [the rise] in percentage terms, it can look quite big, but when you look at it, it is £1.50. It’s not a huge amount.’
He noted that these prices had not gone up in 18 months, while at the same time the price of fuel and running buses had gone up.
In particular there has been a struggle to recruit bus drivers due to a global shortage, and all these costs had resulted in the cost of running the service going up.
He said that prices needed to rise to keep up with inflation, and he was keen to see them reviewed annually, so people would know when price rises were coming.
As part of the consultation, E&I also plans to scrap unlimited monthly tickets which are currently £29. This will leave people with just an unlimited weekly ticket option, which is going up to £25 a week.
Deputy Gabriel said E&I had decided to drop the monthly ticket as it was not well used, and it would make it easier for bus drivers.
If the proposals are backed, they will come into force from the start of October.
Islanders are invited to comment on the proposed changes by Wednesday 6 September by email to passengertransport@gov.gg or by post to Driver & Vehicle Licensing at Edward T Wheadon House.
