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Smart Card plan for bus travel
10:05am Thursday 28th February 2008
BUS passengers will soon be able to travel on some services without handing over cash.
Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive is to pilot a scheme allowing holders of Bolton Council's leisure Smart Card to make journeys on services operated by Arriva Manchester using the card.
More than 12,000 people have Smart Cards, allowing them to take out library books and use the council's gym facilities and pools.
Last summer, the council signed a deal with electronic cash transfer company sQuid, which allowed people to "top up" the card with cash, enabling them to use it to pay for items such as newspapers, food and convenience goods in shops displaying the sQuid logo.
And the card is to be trialled on buses in a bid to extend its use.
Adam Smith, managing director of sQuid, said: "Our philosophy is to make electronic payments a flexible, responsive and cost-effective service for our customers, for merchants and for transport operators.
"This is something none of the banks or credit card networks is able to offer on the same scale as sQuid because our technology is unique and it sits outside the existing banking payment systems."
No details of when the Arriva Manchester pilot scheme will begin have yet been made public.
Your Say Yourtheboltonnews
burnden4ever, burnden says...
10:36am Thu 28 Feb 08
London, however, due to its different privatisation laws, managed to introduce full-time the oystercard and is a massive success. Oystercard systems operate all over Europe successfully.
And now they are being re-introduced into Greater Manchester - thank you bus companies, but it was you that did not want them - Greater MAnchester could have been at the forefront of the pioneering pay system.
Pathetic attitude by the bus companies originally.
Another step toards ID cards? - I think not, otherwise you would have said that at the introduction of money, cheques, credit cards, store cards - it is just another form of payment.
chas, suffolk says...
10:42am Thu 28 Feb 08
kieanders, bolton says...
10:45am Thu 28 Feb 08
boris, west sussex says...
10:46am Thu 28 Feb 08
Don't use those cards that accumulate points. I have it on good authority it's just a dressed up ID card. They can discover your eating habits, but mainly drinking.
chas, suffolk says...
10:50am Thu 28 Feb 08
Don't use those cards that accumulate pointsAre they like driving licences?
burnden4ever, burnden says...
10:55am Thu 28 Feb 08
chas wrote:.... and that equates to higher taxes for people.
Travel by bus should be free to get cars off our roads. Think green.
How would you create a FREE bus network, to take cars off the road, without increasing taxes and making sure that bus companies still make some sort of profit (whether privately owned or council/state owned)?
boris, west sussex says...
10:57am Thu 28 Feb 08
.... and that equates to higher taxes for people.
Less tax if they don't run a car, silly one.
chas, suffolk says...
11:03am Thu 28 Feb 08
.... and that equates to higher taxes for people.Far better than all the deaths caused by car fumes.
Rocky, Bowton says...
11:22am Thu 28 Feb 08
chas wrote:Yeah that's what we will do create more congestion and kill everyone that way, ban smoking and replace it with car fumes.
burnden wrote.... and that equates to higher taxes for people.Far better than all the deaths caused by car fumes.
boris, west sussex says...
11:27am Thu 28 Feb 08
burnden4ever, burnden says...
11:33am Thu 28 Feb 08
boris wrote:err more taxes due to paying for more buses to shift the higher volumes of customers, paying fuel bills so that the buses and extra buses can run, the drivers wages (whether they be Polish or not!), increases in maintenance of the buses the list goes on.
Burger wrote.... and that equates to higher taxes for people.Less tax if they don't run a car, silly one.
How do these get paid for if the buses were free?
chas, suffolk says...
11:36am Thu 28 Feb 08
How do these get paid for if the buses were freeFrom the savings in health services.
burnden4ever, burnden says...
11:43am Thu 28 Feb 08
chas wrote:are you actually for real?
burnden wroteHow do these get paid for if the buses were freeFrom the savings in health services.
savings in health services are NEVER going to hapopen - there would be an outcry from the public, firstly, and secondly the costs in health services are going to rise even more as people live longer and more of the services are required, thirdly do you think that everything the hospital uses are free - they have to buy equipment, medicines etc and the cost of those will continually rise - no matter what!!!!
NOw please lets have a sensible answer to how would you create a free bus network without rising taxation?
chas, suffolk says...
11:48am Thu 28 Feb 08
Less cars, less pollution, less illness, less need for health care.
burnden4ever, burnden says...
11:54am Thu 28 Feb 08
chas wrote:try to add up your figures and project them into a world of less cars etc where there are mucch more elderly (fact), less young (fact), more migrant workers paying their NHS dues (fact and not just from Eastern Europe but from around the whole world). increase in prices of medication, equipment, wages, maintenance etc...
Burden Less cars, less pollution, less illness, less need for health care.
Now tell me that there will be a direct decrease in NHS costs which would help to facilitate a free bus network across the country.
RagReader, Horwich says...
12:10pm Thu 28 Feb 08
boris wrote:I've got two, somebody knowing my eating and drinking habits is hardly going to give me sleepless nights
Rocky Don't use those cards that accumulate points. I have it on good authority it's just a dressed up ID card. They can discover your eating habits, but mainly drinking.
chas, suffolk says...
12:12pm Thu 28 Feb 08
burnden4ever, burnden says...
12:20pm Thu 28 Feb 08
chas wrote:No I actually do not drive and do actually use public transport - if you have ever read the stories about driving under the influence!!!
I don't know all the figures, but obviouly you would advocate more cars, so that more people could be killed off. What a nice person you are?
But it is nice to see, as usual, knowing that you cannot win a debate that you try to turn it around and make the person winning (or proving right) look bad!
Unfortunately, this time, you have fallen on your own sword. I DO NOT OWN A CAR and rely on public transport so I actually do know what I am talking about - unlike you!!!
kieanders, bolton says...
12:22pm Thu 28 Feb 08
very expensive.
chas, suffolk says...
12:26pm Thu 28 Feb 08
Unfortunately, this time, you have fallen on your own sword. I DO NOT OWN A CAR and rely on public transport so I actually do know what I am talking about - unlike youDitto. I don't own a car and also rely on public transport. So, you don't know it all.
burnden4ever, burnden says...
12:27pm Thu 28 Feb 08
kieanders wrote:Chas has no idea of what he is talking about, as usual!!! Yet everyone can see what would happen if Free bus travel did happen!!
if we took cars off the road, and offered free bus travel, not only would the tax payer have to cough up for the cost of buses, fuel, staff, insurance etc, but they would have to make up the shortfall of taxes collected from drivers, such as tax on fuel, cars, VAT on servicing costs etc. very expensive.
burnden4ever, burnden says...
12:29pm Thu 28 Feb 08
chas wrote:I didn't say I know it all but I do know what you say would never happen as it would be far too expensive for the tax payer
burnden wroteUnfortunately, this time, you have fallen on your own sword. I DO NOT OWN A CAR and rely on public transport so I actually do know what I am talking about - unlike youDitto. I don't own a car and also rely on public transport. So, you don't know it all.
Dave, Westhoughton says...
12:38pm Thu 28 Feb 08
chas, suffolk says...
12:39pm Thu 28 Feb 08
burnden4ever, burnden says...
12:44pm Thu 28 Feb 08
Dave wrote:Hi Dave,T.B. (won't use full words on here!), Westhoughton!
Works in Lancashire, has done for years, cuts out a lot of arguments and fraud..
And yet it was Greater Manchester that pioneered the system long well before London!!!
Fantastic idea, tbh
chas, suffolk says...
12:55pm Thu 28 Feb 08
By the way, I receive free transport.
burnden4ever, burnden says...
1:09pm Thu 28 Feb 08
chas wrote:Paid for by the tax payers through the council tax!!!!
Burnden By the way, I receive free transport.
Now how does free bus travel work again???
MICK, BOLTON says...
2:22pm Thu 28 Feb 08
burnden4ever, burnden says...
2:47pm Thu 28 Feb 08
MICK wrote:how, when the system has not yet been introduced?
Four blokes where took off the 501 bus by police in town the other week by police for using fake ones.
MICK, BOLTON says...
2:49pm Thu 28 Feb 08
burnden4ever wrote:it is being tested already.
MICK wrote: Four blokes where took off the 501 bus by police in town the other week by police for using fake ones.how, when the system has not yet been introduced?
MICK, BOLTON says...
2:57pm Thu 28 Feb 08
john, bolton says...
5:31pm Thu 28 Feb 08
chas wrote:Quite so. Buses should be free or very cheap to use so it becomes the first choice for transport not the last as it is now. After all surely free bus travel is more worthwhile than an illegal war and new but useless defence systems.
Travel by bus should be free to get cars off our roads. Think green.
tom3465, Farnworth says...
8:45pm Thu 28 Feb 08
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Rocky, Bowton says...
10:07am Thu 28 Feb 08