Deputy Montfort Tadier is calling for a scheme to be introduced whereby if a passenger gets on the bus at one stop and has to change service to get to their final destination, they could do so for free – as long as the change occurs within an hour.
Earlier this month, the JEP highlighted the fact that a return journey from Havre des Pas to St Aubin – a distance of about four miles – would cost a total of £8 if paid for by card.
Under Deputy Tadier’s proposal the trip would cost £4.
Taxpayers’ money is used to subsidise the cost of bus travel every year. Last year it amounted to about £4.5 million.
In the proposition’s report, the St Brelade Deputy, who uploaded a photo of a ticket he used to travel on the bus from Fauvic ‘to work’, said: ‘An absence of through-fares has often been criticised by a range of Members in this Assembly. So let’s do something about it.
‘The ticket is marked with a time of embarkment. The way I would envisage the through-fares working is that they would be time-limited for an hour. So long as you make the change within the hour, the ticket will be valid. If there is a better way of running the scheme, I am sure that LibertyBus and the [Infrastructure] Minister will let us know.’
Deputy Tadier’s Reform Jersey colleague Deputy Rob Ward saw his amendment to the Sustainable Transport Policy, that would have introduced free bus travel for under 21s, fail this week. The vote was tied 22 votes to 22. In the event of a tied vote, the status quo is maintained and the proposition is deemed lost.
The Sustainable Transport Policy, including an amendment by Constable Simon Crowcroft, was passed by 42 votes to two.
Speaking in the Chamber, Deputy Ward said States Members were stuck between a rock and a hard place and faced the choice of voting for very little or not voting for anything at all.
Deputy Tadier’s proposition is due to be debated on Tuesday 21 April.
