Cardiff Bus profits from loose change

Cardiff Bus made up to £1 million profit last year with part of this money coming from the extra cash passengers hand over when they don’t have the correct fare, it has been claimed.

Karl–James Langford, chairman of the Liberal Party in Wales, was told about the profit by a Cardiff Bus driver he queried the company’s exact fares policy after boarding a Cardiff Bus just two weeks ago. It was then he also found out about the voucher system to reclaim excess fares. The bus driver said he did not know where the excess fares of the past 30 years had gone, but the drivers never saw a penny of it.

Concerned Cardiff Bus passengers were amazed to here about the size of the profit made by the company and there was a way to claim their money back when told by the Cardiff Evening News.

Cardiff Bus operates a no-change policy meaning if a person does not have the right change they either have to pay too much or get off the bus.

Mr Langford said: “Every day people lose money. Where’s the money going?

“I have been on the bus a number of times. I either haven’t had enough money or I have had too much.”

Victoria Rees of Cardiff Bus said: “We do not have precise information available on excess fares though previously we have tried to estimate the amount of additional revenue collected as a result of our exact fares policy.”

Ms Rees said: “All money raised through excess fares and which is not reclaimed by our voucher system, is reinvested in improving the quantity and quality of public transport provided by this company to the citizens of Cardiff.”

But when pushed to provide figures for the previous estimate Cardiff Bus failed to respond and no one was available to comment on exactly how the money was spent on improving the service.

Despite using Cardiff Bus for a year Mr Langford only discovered the voucher system three weeks ago after paying £1.50 over the fare price. He was told about the system by two other passengers on the bus.

The voucher system enables a passenger to be reimbursed by asking the bus driver for a voucher stating the amount extra paid. The passenger can then take the voucher to Cardiff Bus information services on Wood Street and reclaim the amount they overpaid.

But Mr Langford was not only unaware of the voucher system but has never seen it publicised either.

He said: “Why aren’t the drivers telling people they can have a voucher? It’s an issue for Cardiff residents. It is fraudulent that they don’t tell us we can get the money back.”

He conceded Cardiff Bus should tell people not to make a habit of not having the right change and asking for vouchers and drivers should be able to say “enough is enough”, but if you do have too much money you should be able to get your money back.

Ronnie Barker, aged 64 from Llanrumney said: “It’s a disgrace to be perfectly honest. Not many people know about the vouchers and no one has the time to chase refunds anyway. Change should be given automatically when you get on the bus.”

Ben Brayley, 20, currently on a labouring course said he usually pays about 50 pence more than the actual fare but had “no idea” where the extra money goes.

Julie Warmeanc, a 48-year-old mature student from Culverhouse Cross said: “I have only known about the voucher scheme for the last seven or eight months. I found out from a friend of mine that works for the bus company.”

But Stephanie Morgans, 34, an events manager said: “I think it’s fair enough. People know it’s an exact change system but they still try to get on with £10 or £20 notes, which takes up people’s time. What’s more annoying is when the buses don’t stop when you put your hand up.”

When asked why so few people know about the voucher system, Ms Rees said: “In many cases where the change due is a small amount, passengers do not tend to claim their vouchers.

“We do recognise our exact change policy does occasionally cause inconvenience and we have developed a ticketing programme aimed at minimising this inconvenience with our on-board day-to-go and week-to-go travel tickets.”

Cardiff Bus have also announced the launch of a new Smartcard system. This is a form of stored value where change can be credited to the card for use on the next journey.

Ms Rees said: “This has proved extremely popular and successful in other cities in the UK and again will further minimise inconvenience.”

She said: “The exact fare policy has arisen due to a number of different factors including the additional cost of cash handling, coupled with delays in boarding times would have to be passed on in the form of either higher fares or a reduced level of service.

“Over two-thirds of our customers either travel on pre-paid tickets or under the free concessionary fares scheme and would be particularly inconvenienced by the delays created by cash handling.”

She said: “A decision had been reached on health and safety grounds that the widespread use of cash handling by our drivers would create an unacceptable health and safety risk for the workforce that already has to face considerable difficulties in terms of assault and other unacceptable behaviour.”

(Published: Friday 1 February 2008, Cardiff Evening News)