Well, that was quick!
Right after posting this, I hear about Labour’s new transport strategy for Dublin. Here’s the top 3 items:
Labour will increase the Dublin Bus fleet by 50% (500 buses), significantly increasing frequency and reducing waiting times.
Will complete the Quality Bus Corridors, and greatly reduce journey times.
Will introduce a EUR 1 per-trip fare for adults and a 50c per-trip fare for children.
The flat-rate fee structure makes a lot more sense than the confusing and rip-off-ish current model, whereby if you don’t know in advance how much a particular journey is going to cost, you’re given a useless receipt instead of change. This wierd and rip-off-ish policy has certainly stopped me from catching buses in the past. In general, flat-rate pricing models appear to encourage use in other fields. And the increase in the fleet is obviously a fantastic idea. Fantastic stuff!