Waterford bus passengers given no notice before seeing fares double in price

Passengers on a County Waterford bus service were given no notice before seeing their fares double in price, a council meeting has heard.

Sinn Féin councillor Catherine Burke spoke on the subject of the Local Link service at the March plenary meeting of Waterford City and County Council.

Cllr Burke began by outlining the importance of the service to people living in rural parts of the county.

She stated: “I want to use my time today to highlight a very important issue.

“I’ll start by saying how valuable I think the Local Link service is to rural communities and the Comeragh District in particular.

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“It’s a wonderful service that many people rely on to get to work, college and appointments and it’s public transport a real option for people living outside urban areas. I use the service regularly myself.”

Cllr Burke went on to highlight the increase in fares that has occurred in recent weeks.

“However, this week I want to highlight that an increase in fares happened with no notice. It doubled the cost of service users using the service.

“For example, an adult travelling from the Bunmahon/Kill area using a Leap Card has gone from €14 to €28 per week and from €21 to €46 if you’re paying cash. A student fare has risen by €10 to €20.

“At a time when people have begun using this route more and more, the buses are packed, increases like this make public transport less attractive than driving. People will return to cars if there’s not a financial incentive.”

She also outlined the little notice passengers were given with regards to the fare increases.

“So to add insult to injury, customers were informed of the fare increase less than 24 hours after it had come into effect.

“Students were queuing up to use buses and they were told the fares had doubled.

“To be fair to the management here in Waterford, they had instructed bus drivers to be lenient on the fare increases. However, it’s particularly hard for vulnerable people and young people.”

Cllr Burke concluded by calling on Waterford City and County Council to take action on the issue.

“We value the service greatly in the Comeragh District, so I would ask that the council here and its members write to the National Transport Authority (NTA) to request that these fares be reconsidered and that reasonable notice and clear advertising of any future fare increases should be provided to the public in advance of them actually happening.”

In response, Director of Service Gabriel Hynes said that he noted Cllr Burke’s comments and that the council would write to the NTA on the issue.