* Finland - Hurting bus companies and their passengers
Bus passengers in the Greater Helsinki area should prepare themselves for hard times, warn bus companies
Helsinki,Uusimaa,Finland -The Helsingin Sanomat -4 June 2008: --
... The reason is that the soaring cost of fuel - diesel prices have almost reached the towering levels of those for petrol - has further exacerbated the financial problems facing carriers... The crunch being faced by bus companies could lead to cuts in service, with an obvious knock-on effect for passengers in terms of crowded buses and missed connections... As we have reported earlier, the price of diesel has risen by around 35% in just over a year. Ari Heinilä of the Finnish Bus & Coach Association (LAL) describes the steepling climb as hair-raising: "In the metropolitan area the battle for market share is already so tough that it makes one stop and think whether there is any sense at all in the whole business."... During the current decade, the bus operators in the Greater Helsinki area have consistently made losses in the region of EUR 5 to 10 million each year. There are rumours in the market that at least one of the large companies is up for sale... The large international bus companies Concordia and Veolia also blame rivals and market leader Helsingin Bussiliikenne, owned by the City of Helsinki, for the equivalent of dumping prices to secure routes... Ilkka J. Kari, the Chairman of Helsingin Bussiliikenne, vehemently denies the accusations. The carriers are now turning to the state for help in the form of a rebate on fuel taxes or reductions in value added tax. If no help is forthcoming, the general view is that public transport services will suffer... (Photo by LEIF ROSAS - The No.61 from Tikkurila to Mellunmäki was packed full on Tuesday afternoon. If push comes to shove over fuel prices, bus passengers in the metro area will have to prepare themselves for cuts in services, meaning longer waits and more standing-room-only journeys) * UK - Bus bosses debate rising cost of fuel
London,UK -Get Reading -4 June 2008: -- Bus bosses will tonight discuss how to deal with the problem of rising fuel prices for services across Reading – with the possibility of fare restructuring... Services in West Berkshire are already being reviewed because of the pressure of high fuel prices on the bus service provider... Newbury Buses, part of Reading Transport Ltd, runs West Berkshire’s buses using funding from the council and has been forced to make the review because world oil prices are putting severe strains on the financial viability of some services... Declining passenger numbers on some services are also adding to the problems... Reading Transport Ltd will tonight consider how to deal with the rising fuel cost problem more widely across Reading and Newbury...* USA - Wausau Buses Packing Them In
Eau Claire,WI,USA -WEAU/TV 13 -Jun 4, 2008: -- Operators of the Wausau Area Transit System are crediting the high gasoline prices for a ridership increase that has continued despite a rise in bus fares by 25 percent in January... At that time, the system expected ridership to decline by seven percent but instead it rose just under two percent... And that was before the gas prices really jumped in recent months and got more people considering public transit...Transit director Greg Seubert says the system is getting a lot of calls from people interested in bus transportation as a cost-cutting choice... Those are people who can afford other options, such as driving a car, but choose public transit instead...Labels: fuel cost troubles
Salt Lake,UT,USA -The Salt Lake Tribune, by Brandon Loomis -6 July 2008: -- Lopeti Penima'ani spends much of his time wheeling around the Salt Lake Valley advocating for fellow disabled citizens. Now he fears gasoline prices and mass-transit officials' reaction to them will take away that part of his life and leave him needing more help... He fears that the fuel surcharge the Utah Transit Authority put into effect last week will tap his Social Security disability income and keep him from getting out of his West Jordan home as much... UTA says there's no way of immediately crunching the numbers to see whether riders stayed away when bus and TRAX rail tickets rose by 25 cents, to $2 a ride. But drivers apparently didn't notice a big difference in passenger loads... (Photo by Scott Sommerdorf/The Salt Lake Tribune: Lopeti Penima'ani, right, and his dog Lady wait as friend and fellow activist Steve Edwards boards a UTA bus in front of West Jordan City Hall on Thursday. Penima'ani fears UTA's fuel surcharge will keep him from getting around the community as much)
