‘Visitors come here for more than just the cheap buses’
Saturday 16th March 2013, 4:00PM GMT.
HIGHER visitor fares will help subsidise the island’s bus network, the operator has said.
Proposals from CT Plus, which could come into force on 12 May, could see the introduction of a £2 visitor tariff and the drastic reduction of the round-island number 7 route for a less regular visitor-focused service.
CT Plus communications director Frank Villeneuve-Smith said that, in its current form, the route tied up one-quarter of the bus fleet and was not sustainable.
‘The issue we have with the route 7 is that either it’s empty or if there is a cruise ship in, you can’t get on it,’ he said.
‘The plan is to run something like the route 7 but targeted for visitors and with different branding – some like the “Guernsey Vaeux”, which is Guernsey French for Guernsey scenic.’
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Visitors who can afford to come here will not be over fussed at paying £2 for their bus trip.
Many of our UK visitors hold bus passes and are therefore exempt from payment within certain hours, are they able to use these on our buses?
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Mainland UK visitors with free bus passes (OAPs / Disabled etc) still have to pay to use Guernsey buses as the Concessionary Pass Scheme isn’t valid here.
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Cheap booze and fast women, being the other two..
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you can rule out the cheap booze,its cheaper in some pubs in london.
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Seriously?
What mickey mouse business school did the CT Plus management go to?
Visitors to Guernsey take the bus (and the number 7 route) because it’s the best way of seeing the Island and at a fairly reasonable price at that – so you’re going to then remove both of those effectively?? Because let’s face it, as soon as the visitors see that as non locals they’re paying twice as much, they’re going to walk away and find alternative options because people don’t like feeling like they’re being taken for fools. Bravo, well done. You may as well just put signs up at the airport and harbour saying ‘Visitors, we don’t want your business’.
Oh and don’t think that saying people don’t visit the Island for the cheap bus fares is reasoning alone – because it’s not, it’s just patting yourselves on the back and justifying a bad business decision.
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@MGL
What a load of rubbish, you are obviously someone who does not travel much. Most places in Asia as well as many other world destinations charge the holiday maker more, why should we be any different. A lot of places I have been dont just stop at the extra cost for busses either.
CT Plus has at last taken a good direction and should be applauded for trying to change things.
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Surely a better idea than copying what they do in Asia, would be to give visitors to Guernsey (and Jersey) free bus travel at certain times of the day to encourage them to visit the island attractions and amenities. The Channel Islands as a whole need to do more to increase visitor numbers, not reduce them.
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If you read between the lines, you will see that actually the tourists will pay the same as every one else. The £1 fare becomes £2, and the costs of topping up the Ormer cards also goes up.
Tourists can get Ormer cards anyway, and for local persons who have to make an odd journey now and and do not have an Ormer card, they also have to fork out £2.
Its a trick of CT to pretend that tourists will be subsidizing the bus service – when in fact everyone will land up paying more !
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Do you not read the report? The coastal route was not being scrapped, it was being rebranded in order to free up a quarter of the fleet. The route is unreliable in business terms.
To be honest if a visitor can afford to fly here then they can afford a £2 bus fare.
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Replacing 6 buses every hour going right around the island with just 4 a day is about as near to scrapping it as you can get ……
If it were just a rebranding it wouldn’t free up any buses at all …
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..is it just me,maybe i’m reading this wrong,i wonder? is this just on route 7? Had to wipe my eyes to make sure i had read this article correctly.How does the saying go ? desperate times,require desperate thinking.So,as most of us here will know,the bit of islands tourist industry we used to have,has all but collapsed.I can not imagine for the life of me,that the few tourists that do grace our shores these days,do so for our busses!
Gibraltar,has a free bus service,subsidised by the Gib government,and the busses are crambed with tourists and locals alike.
The writing was on the wall years ago,for the Guernsey tourist industry,Crazy high fares, unreliable modes of transport to get here,lack of sun,high prices in the shops,total lack of forward thinking regards to shop and attractions open hours,and the daddy of all horrors,Sunday openning,Mon dieu!….with cruise line passengers, who unfortunately for them, arrive here on a Sunday, often being caught out.How,without going into complicated requests of “show us ya passport or visitor bus ticket mate” or long drawn out form filling,,is the bus company going to implament this,wonderous idea. How will visitors,react when they cotton onto being asked to pay, a higher fare compared with locals?… was not so long back in the summer(ha) season,that Eating establishments,tended to “hike” up prices to compensate for lack of winter trade,much to the disgust of many tourists.
Like i said,maybe i’ve read this all wrong,sure someone will put me on the right bus…Allez en route!
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The real reason why route 7 is being cancelled is that people could get on and go round the island and pay only for one trip. In future, if CT get their way, they will still be able to go around the island by changing buses and paying an extra fare for each change.
CT are trying to bring in prices hikes across the board, on the pretext that tourists will be paying more. Yes they will, if they continue to use the service, but so will the residents of the island as everyone will pay the same inflated prices.
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CT confirmed last nigh that you will still be able to transfer buses at no extra charge.
So some good news for the west coast then …
And the cash price, if you can prove you are local, remains at £1
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Toby, the west coast buses never run on time and cannot be relied upon. The likelihood of getting TWO buses anywhere with a connection (in howling wind and rain) in between and still arriving at my destination is remote. I would rather take a chance on buying a winning lottery ticket, buying a limo and hiring a chauffeur.
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The only thing that will give Guernsey a well used and profitable bus service … as I have mentioned before but to def ears
Build a bus station .and charge drivers
For parking g to pay for it.
The state of the present station is just a disgrace. It is a cold wet old dark 18h century
Unfit for purpose mess would you stand there
When it’s raining cold dark .
It’s just unbelievable that in this day and age
It exists……. and the state’s just won’t listen then want to spend millions on a car park.. when spend about half that on a bus station will make room for lots more car parking
Turning the visitors centre in town to a small but we’ll equipped bus station is the answer.it is not used now for most of the year . And just a few changes to the building and the wasted space out side ,, would really make a big difference to the traveling public ……
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What wasted space are you going on about?
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Neither the States & most car owners have any interest in paid parking
Until if or when its ever introduced
So drivers pay nought!!
Does the upkeep of these free spaces come from our pockets via Tax (even non drivers)?
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soph
Yes the owners of the 80,000 plus vehicles in the island pay for the upkeep of these free spaces via their fuel tax to the tune of more than 15M per year
Do you think the upkeep of those free spaces costs over 15M per year?
Unlikely,so because fuel tax gets thrown into the big tax melting pot it is also spent on all the other useful things which have to be financed via the tax take,things which many of those 80,000 vehicle owners might not make use of but accept as part of the tax deal…such things as free education for Spartacus’ child A, Martino’s cycle lane and free cycle stands and Rosie’s free recycling bins,plus of course over 2M per year keeping the bus fares down for non-vehicle owners
Can you remember what was there before the taxpayers (the majority being among the 80,000 plus vehicle owners) stomped up the multi-millions for the construction of North Beach and La Salerie? I believe it was just sea,so it seems to me that the motoring public have already paid very heavily,and continue to pay heavily for their free car parking spaces
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Island Wide Voting
Your own tax payments have repaid the debt of your own Grammar school education and the same will apply to child A. Just saying.
Maybe they should raise the fuel tax to cover the commercial rental value of the land as well as upkeep of the spaces?
If paid parking is so unpalatable perhaps they should introduce a congestion charge instead?
Monorail anyone? ;-)
On the topic of buses I agreed with everything John Gollop had to say on the phone in. They are an essential public service first and foremost and should operate as such. Spot on.
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Bloody well said Ray :)
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Has the bus company ever considered picking up from the harbour.
This could target customers coming off the Condor and the visting cruise ships.
Yes it might be difficult with congestion but Im sure they could work round this.
The bus company needs to look outside the box and consider why the service is making a huge loss.
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Very sensible idea… Also an early morning service to the airport as there are quite a few flights leaving at 7 in the morning or about that time. One of the routes that serve the White Rock should also serve the airport so that passengers can transit easily between the two.
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Just a thought but would it not be a good idea to keep the 7a service as it is but raise the price for everyone who wishes to use it as a hop on hop off service ie tourists. I dont think 3 or even 4 pounds is an unreasonable price for such a service. also anyone who wants to use it to get to just 1 destination (including tourists) should pay the flat rate.
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Guernsey vaeux = Guernsey scenic well call it Guernsey Scenic then , we are British and speak English for goodness sake.
If France wanted to take over & govern us everyone would be up in arms after all its been quite a few hundred years now eh! Mon cherie.
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If you are enthusiastic about us only using the English language then perhaps you should refrain from using the term “Mon cherie” as that’s not in the dictionary. Perhaps you should change your name as well!
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What I meant was if something new or different needs a new name give it a relevent english name esp for visitors and they will understand it, there again perhaps you would like it in Latin or some other more or less defunct language. As for the “Mon Cherie” it was a joke so chill and wind your neck in.
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I don’t care what language it’s in. BTW jokes are funny, yours are about as funny as a brain tumour.
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Well, i’m very pleased by this, a strategic review of the bus routes and their performance is a great idea! And running a seperate scenic route, it would cost me £1.75 a pop to go from uni to my house at a distance of two miles, seeing as UK busses charge per distance which is fair, the distance traveled by the no7 would warrent a price many times that of £2 i’d even suggest a minimum of £5 to go around the island!
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Its another guernsey shambles
The island is falling apart,lets get rid of the finance and get a normal life
Stop the greed stop the evasion and lets all live happy ever after
Anyone see the bbc documntary chasing the uk resident for tax ? They traced his money to Investec guernsey 680k evasion,once the tax contacted investec they spilled the beans, but why didntthey know already kyc,compliance ? or maybe they knew and wasnt saying?
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Link between the finance industry and busses proposals please?
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And why not – the visiters are ripped of getting here,so why not when they are travelling here?
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In one hand we are trying to reduce the consumption of alcohol, by increasing the minimum unit price for example, so we all live longer and reduce health problems caused by drinking to much.
Although this will just impact on the pensions time bomb that’s affecting us all.
Now it seems a night out in town is going to be a tenner or so cheaper and the landlords are rubbing their hands with glee. Joined up Government ?? Back to the original life expectancy and
“Pension crisis averted as night bus ferries Islands population to town pubs”
Headline..
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As a regular tourist who does not speak Guernsey French – whats the point of the new name – just adds confusion.
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The two tier pricing system in Asia is disgusting and hated by anyone who knows about it.
Guernsey with two tier pricing just about says it all to what way the island is going,
If they go through with it the bus company will be hated by the visitor, why should anybody pay twice as much for something.
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here here
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Conrad, really? I think you will find that us tourists dont like it, but we still flock there every year, and I think you will find that the locals really dont care, so your statement is flawed.
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given the difference in earnings between locals and visitors, I doubt that many visitors will begrudge subsidising the locals.
but a visitor from the UK coming here is unlikely to have the same altruistic feeling towards us, with our comparatively high wages and 20% tax.
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No Conrad is correct in saying visitors don`t like it even if visitors do still flock to those places and how do we know if it doesn`t put many off from returning?.
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I agree.
It may be a small amount but it sets a tone which says “we will fleece you whenever we get the chance”. Visitors will feel unwelcome and exploited – not really the feeling that we wish to generate.
Fair enough to charge people more for not using an Ormer card, but make the Ormer card available to all. This is what happens with the London Underground – visitors can register for an Oyster card and benefit from the cheaper fares. If they buy one-off tickets, they pay a higher price. Or charge a higher price for the “Guernsey Scenic” route only, as that is aimed at visitors, but charge the higher price for all. That is fair.
Can the States prevent them from introducing this aspect of the proposals?
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I hope Environment and CT+ see the wisdom of your post Terry. I agree with every word you say.
I would introduce a new, say green colour Ormer card from the time the new price structure starts and charge customers (myself included) a one off £5 charge for the actual card. Allow holders of the older, yellow cards to use up their journeys (max 50) and when they run out they will have to buy one of the new green cards for £5 in order to top up again. Visitors or anyone else for that matter can choose to buy an Ormer card for £5 or pay the more expensive cash journeys just as some locals prefer to do because they don’t use the buses that much.
I also like your idea of a ‘Guernsey Scenic’ route – summer time only with a flat higher fare and no concession for Ormer card holders.
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Warning… Smoke-screen !!
Bus company plan to increase prices for every-one – not just tourists !
By dressing up these proposals in such a way, the general public are being hoodwinked in to believing that they are aimed at increasing revenue from tourists, whereas, in fact, everyone will land up paying more, with the exception of senior citizens.
The standard fare is being raised from one to two pounds, whilst the costs per trip through the use of the Ormer cards will also be increased.
There is no visitor or local fare – everyone pays the same. Visitors can purchase the Ormer card just as easily as the local population, and the local population will bear the burden of the new price increases just as much as the tourists.
Higher fares will only help push the local population into using private cars and taxis more, and will only help encourage visitors to use taxis and hire-cars more, especially as no action is being taken on implementing paid parking.
Guernsey, as a whole, should be doing a lot more to protect its own environment whether that involves solving the problem of dumping sewage out at sea, waste disposal, power generation or reducing the reliance of the population on the motor car.
Furthermore, there is another smoke-screen being concocted on the cancellation of the island circular routes. The real reason for the cancellation is so that passengers can not get on at one stop and literally go round the island on a single fare instead of, as in the future, changing buses and paying out more !
The argument that the route 7/7A uses one quarter of the bus resources, and that the route can not cope with cruise-ship passengers anyway is total nonsense.
How much more resources will be needed for a late night service ?
The bus company should be laying on special trips and tours to meet the needs of cruise-ship passengers on those days that there is a cruise-ship visiting as these excursions could bring in substantial more revenue than a single round-the-island regular bus service route could.
The new company, CT, shows very little ability in being able to attract more passengers, to improve services, or to help the environment by reducing the use of the motor-car on the island but seem to just look at the easy way out by hiking up prices.
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I know a way of increasing tourism thats guaranteed to work.
:0
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The number 7 route eh? I’ve never cared to learn the numbered bus routes, Im still keeping an eye out for the J route bus! I’ll be waiting sometime I suppose…
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Then you unfortunately missed out on the good old days, when we had for decades long the same numbers plying the same routes… 1 to Jerbourg via Fort Road, 2 to Jerbourg via the Grange, 4 St Martins via Fort Road, 7 and 8 to Saints, 10 – 13 to the Airport and the southwest of the island, and so on…
Oh, life was so simple and easy back then.
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Living on the current 7/7A route my wife and I are going to lose out big-time.
It will need a trek to reach one of the new routes leading to Town, but gone will be the option of taking a bus to St Sampson’s, down the coast to Vazon or Perelle, or again to the Airport when we take a short break away. (Trips that we do take at present)
Doubtless some islanders will gain but these plans seem ill-conceived, even before you consider the increased fares being proposed. Last time that fares were increased, passenger numbers dropped overnight.
As for charging grockles more than locals, while attractive on the face of it, this is not on in this day and age.
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Fare apartheid is quite unnecessary. Surely all they need to do is price individual fares at, say, £2. Then sell Ormer Cards with a minimum of 25 rides for £25. Its very unlikely that holiday makers will want to use the bus 25 times but if they do, good luck to them. That is easy to solve assuming somebody at CT Plus has half a brain. More of a problem are the proposed new routes which are complete nonsense. I live in St Saviour with no new route anywhere nearby – why the hell should my taxes subsidise this pathetic bus company with its unusable ‘service’?
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If this was to go ahead then if I was the owner of tourist accom what I would do is buy some ormer cards and then give them to my visitors to use, so it is pretty pointless.
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Mission accomplished then, surely? Holidaymakers using the bus instead of pootling round the coast at 10 mph in a hire car driving me nuts!
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Beanjar – you mean to say you can do more than 10 MPH in your car on the coast road?
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I used to work with a chap who claimed that visitors used to prfer Guernsey because you could not get a drink on a Sunday because the pubs were closed !!
I asked if this was then printed in the holiday brochures “come to Guernsey where you can’t get a drink on a Sunday” I did not get an answer.
Will we now publish in our visitor brochures, web sites etc:
“come to Guernsey where you will pay double to use the buses than locals”
I think not.
Did they ever allow Sunday opening ?
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The fact is that visitors will not have to pay more than locals – anyone can get hold of an Ormer card, and anyone who has an Ormer card can benefit from the lower fare per trip that the Ormer card offers.
However, both the standard fare and the Ormer card costs per trip, are being increased…
For EVERYONE !
The States were happy that Island Coachways gave up the service, either because they wanted a bigger subsidy or the States wanted to cut their subsidy, it is not clear which from reading the press reports, and CT Plus were given the assignment of operating the bus service.
It is not clear whether the subsidy that CT Plus receives is as much as Island Coachways were getting, or wanted, or is less or is more… depending again on which press reports one tries to collect information from.
But what has transpired is that CT Plus want now to impose substantial increases in the fares… for everyone !
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