4.7.1
Original Document
Buses have the potential to carry a greater proportion of trips to and from the city centre but suffer from various drawbacks in terms of increasing patronage, such as congestion, actual or perceived reliability, levels of comfort, and poor image generally. The Big City Plan initiative should be seen as the opportunity to pursue a transformation in the quality and indeed dignity of bus travel in Birmingham.
Plain English Translation
Buses could make more trips to and from the city centre but the drawbacks of this are that they could cause traffic problems, they are not always on time (or people think they are not always on time), they are not always comfortable and generally have a bad image. We should see the Big City Plan as the chance to improve the quality and image of bus travel in Birmingham.
I would be more likely to catch the bus to town (and within town) if I didn't have to have the exact change. It was a little more bearable when a day ticket was £3, but now it's £3.30 I just don't bother. Some sort of Oystercard-style chargeable card would be great for everyone who doesn't get the bus often enough to get a season ticket; it could perhaps then have cheaper “within city” hop-on hop-off style fares, or other ideas like that.