Metro zone 6 - will we ever get it?
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The Metro Ticketing Scheme, administered by METRO, provides unlimited rail and bus or bus only travel in West Yorkshire. The area is divided into 5 zones that are centred on Leeds and the cost of the ticket varies depending on the zone you want to travel from. The most expensive ticket covering zones 1 to 5 is approximately £1,000 pa. The first “quick win” of the Leeds City Region was to expand the METRO Ticketing scheme to a new zone 6 which would cover Cononley to Gargrave and also to Harrogate and Knaresborough. The central aim of the Leeds City Region is to remove the barriers within a coherent economic area to allow for growth. The most important of these is the flexibility of the labour market and the removal of barriers for cross border travel both into Leeds/Bradford etc and also into Craven.
Funding of a Zone 6
The aim of the Zone 6 development was to make the scheme cost neutral as the basis of the scheme is that revenue from the ticket is divided between bus and rail operators based on the proportion of usage. Growth in the scheme for Zone 6 would increase the revenue for the operators. Total revenues for 2007/8 were £28m. In developing a zone 6 there needs to be a balance between attractiveness for the public and also for the operators. A key issue here is the price differential between a rail season ticket for Skipton to Leeds (35.60 pw) and the expected cost of a rail only zone 1 to 6 ticket (£36.50). If bus was then added the operators would only accept a zone 1 to 6 rail plus zone 1 to 5 bus at about £43.30 pw. The key question here is why switch from a rail season ticket to rail only metro card and would the inclusion of buses in zones 1 to 5 be prohibitively expensive? If a public sector subsidy from NYCC was introduced this could make the product both more attractive for the public and the operators therefore delivering the labour flexibility and a possible shift away from the car. NYCC have said that they will look at any proposals and discuss the costs and benefits of a subsidy.
Alternative Products
It is not certain whether creating two products, a zone 1 – 6 rail only, and a zone 1 to 6 rail plus 1 to 5 bus would be taken up by the public or would it be largely symbolic. There is the opportunity to develop different more specific products that could support businesses, students, tourists, the social excluded or groups that can travel off peak all at discounts from the main offer. An example of the business product could be that a company purchases 20 tickets at a 15% discount for any of their staff to use therefore reducing car usage etc. Students currently pay £5.50 per week for METRO tickets and this could be expanded to zone 6 so allowing students from West Yorkshire to come to Craven College or for outdoor pursuits in the Dales but also Craven Students to go to other colleges and universities and leisure activities in Leeds etc. The tourist card could allow travel anywhere in the City Region plus discounts to attractions for a week.
Next Steps
METRO are aiming to introduce a Zone 6 on the 1st January 2009 although what that will comprise of is uncertain. They will be developing a range of options based on the issues set out above and this should be produced by September. So watch this space for further developments.
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