Free Public Transport for All

[elginCity]

Exeter alone is an example of increasing congestion; Honiton Road was shut on Sunday and it took an hour to drive into town via the Pinhoe Road diversion. On a Sunday !

Re-introducing electric trams would help reduce congestion/CO2. Exeter Tramways was only closed because of bottlenecks on the High Street in the '30s, ironically at the same time as the By-pass construction started. City Centre pedestrian/regular tram only (bar emergency service vehicles), subsidised ticketing, would result in better productivity for the local economy and cleaner air. A solution lies in the past.

 

[Hants_red]

I think there are too many companies involved in public transport to make something like this work for Exeter. I do think that more stations in the major commuter areas would be helpful, and increased trains to go with, e.g. regular services from Honiton to St Davids to infill the London service. Shame part of that line is single track. It's a pity that the station at Marsh Barton might not happy due to technical reasons.

Elgin, a tram from St Thomas to Blackboy Road on a Saturday would be a delight!

 

[Terryhall]

I would also add that the Letzburgisch demographic and the topography of the country make this an incredibly different proposition to anything we might have (or would propose to have) in the UK

This is definitely true (one of the articles I read referenced that Luxembourg is about the same size as Oxfordshire). That said whilst the pricing is very different, the general approach in Switzerland is the same (without the price cap). Fixed costs for a journey whether paid in advance or paid on the day; return journey costs are a simple multiple of a single journey; with a range of annual pass options from a national annual pass for the whole of the country at one end of the spectrum, down to an annual "half price pass" card which means you still have to buy a ticket for each journey, but that it costs half the usual price.

Despite being significantly more expensive than the current Luxembourg model, I find this to be significantly less expensive than the current UK model (example - last time I checked in 2015 or so, an annual 2nd class pass for all public transport in Switzerland (boats, trains, buses, trams) was comparable in price to a Reading - London annual season ticket for one specific train route)

 

[Hants_red]

On my trip to Switzerland in January,I found that SBB was highly efficient, and my pass covered most things I need to do, and was an excellent price. We were deep in snow, but the trains ran on time.

 

[Jason H]

As much as I'd love to have a free pass to travel to work - especially if, as sounds likely (I'll find out later today the extent), I'll be needing to make regular trips into Zone 1 soon (we have another satellite campus opening up in February near Holborn and my boss wants me to play "a leading role" in it, whatever that means).

Ha - confirmed, I'll be relocating to Holborn in February to essentially manage the new campus. No extra income, but plenty of extra outgoings, yay!

 

[StroudGrecian]

Quite, and it was also the same with austerity - people were happy for cuts to be made as long as, er, nothing was cut.

Not worth the analogy - taxes are essential; austerity is/was an unnecessary ideological imposition.

 

[Jason H]

Not worth the analogy - taxes are essential; austerity is/was an unnecessary ideological imposition.

Whatever - the analogy is, however, identical - people agree with stuff unless it affects them.

 

[elginCity]

Elgin, a tram from St Thomas to Blackboy Road on a Saturday would be a delight!

Too right, Hampshire. Just imagine the top deck choc full of City faithful !

 

[Hermann]

Whatever - the analogy is, however, identical - people agree with stuff unless it affects them.

Not to sidetrack things too much, but I think the problem people had with austerity was that we were repeatedly told "we are all in it together" by MPs that had their own salaries raised and were unaffected by cuts to public services and benefits.

 

[Jason H]

Not to sidetrack things too much, but I think the problem people had with austerity was that we were repeatedly told "we are all in it together" by MPs that had their own salaries raised and were unaffected by cuts to public services and benefits.

Their salaries were frozen for a time, and IIRC the cabinet took a pay cut.