Do bus drivers get to keep tips/extra money collected?

[The 90+2]

I’ve always wondered this, there must be £100s to be made weekly on the buses during the festival especially.

Anyone know?

[danhibees1875]

I'm sure I read it gets donated to charity (once netted off against the scoundrels who throw in £1.60 of change that can't be counted quick enough).

Although my experiences of the buses recently has seen almost everyone using card/passes rather than coins now.

[The 90+2]

Thanks Dan. If it goes to charity it certainly should be promoted more when advising people to have the correct change in that case such as bud stops or on the wee drop bit.

[J-C]

All locked away in the collection box

[The 90+2]

All locked away in the collection box

Going to?

[MSK]

I'm sure I read it gets donated to charity (once netted off against the scoundrels who throw in £1.60 of change that can't be counted quick enough).

Although my experiences of the buses recently has seen almost everyone using card/passes rather than coins now.I remember there was a breakdown of cash collected, x amount sterling, x amount euros, x amount Turkish lira & x amount of chocolate coins 😆

I never have change for a bus so guaranteed for every £1.40 you put in I put in £2 because I never have change 😆

[Fife-Hibee]

What gets me are people who are just short of change by like 5p and are told to get off the bus. Even although there's undoubtedly an overflow of at least a quid or 2.

Have found myself handing over 5 or 10p every now and then to kids who were just short of change because the driver was being a bit of an arse. Even had a journey delayed by a good 15 minutes once because of this.

[patch1875]

What happened to the good old days you would wander round the bus asking people for change.

[Fife-Hibee]

What happened to the good old days you would wander round the bus asking people for change.

It was wandering alright. You couldn't see people for the smoke. :wink:

[J-C]

Going to?

As said, excess goes to charity, the drivers have nothing to do with money now, took temptation away from them.

[G B Young]

Less and less folk paying by cash - and likely to be even less now that you can make contactless payments which are programmed never to exceed the value of a day ticket (£4).

[danhibees1875]

I can't find any backup to my charity claim but I'm sure I read that.

I found an old article (2014) which said they end up with c.£200k a year over expected ticket income. That doesn't include foreign coins, but does include when the ticket machine breaks and they collect money but don't issue tickets. I imagine this will have substantially decreased this year though.

You can also ask for an overpayment slip and reclaim your overpayment if you desire.

Anecdotally, I seen a child earlier this week say he was 10p short and was just waved on.

[Billy Whizz]

I caught a bus to the airport a few weeks ago my wife
You can’t buy 2 tickets with a debit card, really bizarre. She didn’t have her card on her, so we we were scrabbling around for some money, or she wouldn’t have got on!
Wonder how a family of 4 arriving at the airport, with no change would get on
Just incredible in this day and age, that we introduce a system on our buses, that will can only pay for one ticket

[Scouse Hibee]

I caught a bus to the airport a few weeks ago my wife
You can’t buy 2 tickets with a debit card, really bizarre. She didn’t have her card on her, so we we were scrabbling around for some money, or she wouldn’t have got on!
Wonder how a family of 4 arriving at the airport, with no change would get on
Just incredible in this day and age, that we introduce a system on our buses, that will can only pay for one ticket

Could have done two separate transactions surely?

[MSK]

Could have done two separate transactions surely?Nope, has to be done on separate cards, my Wife carries her bank cards and I dont, if we were getting a bus and I had no cash then she would be waving to me as the bus drove off 😆

[Scouse Hibee]

So playing devils advocate here, if you got on the bus paid your fare by card and then got off again to catch another bus in front only to miss it, you would be unable to jump back on original bus and pay again?

[MSK]

So playing devils advocate here, if you got on the bus paid your fare by card and then got off again to catch another bus in front only to miss it, you would be unable to jump back on original bus and pay again?You would pay to the limit which is £4 so approx two journeys, then your card is expired, Im assuming that is a security fix to prevent your card being lost and someone attempting to use it.

[Billy Whizz]

Could have done two separate transactions surely?

Unfortunately no. Whoever bought the kit should be looking for another job

[Scouse Hibee]

You would pay to the limit which is £4 so approx two journeys, then your card is expired, Im assuming that is a security fix to prevent your card being lost and someone attempting to use it.

Ah okay got it.

[Pete]

Bus drivers keep tips?

Good God no 🤣

[Hibbyradge]

Unfortunately no. Whoever bought the kit should be looking for another job

That's exactly the same system as the London underground uses.

It's actually very good because it changes you as little as possible for the journeys taken.

The only downside is that it can only work if it's one card per traveller and I think that's understandable.

Imagine, if you will, that 2 adults and 2 teenage children are visiting Edinburgh and go out sightseeing in the morning by bus. However, Dad's forgotten his camera so he goes back to his hotel on his own by, then rejoins the family.

They have a brilliant day out then go home. In the evening, the adults want to go uptown to see the fireworks, but the kids are happy to watch TV in their room.

Sheite story, but one credit card between them just wouldn't work. :hilarious

[Hibbyradge]

You would pay to the limit which is £4 so approx two journeys, then your card is expired, Im assuming that is a security fix to prevent your card being lost and someone attempting to use it.

The card doesn't expire, does it? It just doesn't charge any more.

If it was stolen, the thief could continue using it to travel.

Or have I got my wires crossed?

[danhibees1875]

The card doesn't expire, does it? It just doesn't charge any more.

If it was stolen, the thief could continue using it to travel.

Or have I got my wires crossed?

If it was sto

You're right. The £4 is a cap, same as London.

The problem is the bus driver wouldn't let you use your card for you and your wife. You could be using your card all day for all your family and be charged the capped £4 at the end of it - they'll be trying to stop that happening.

[MSK]

The card doesn't expire, does it? It just doesn't charge any more.

If it was stolen, the thief could continue using it to travel.

Or have I got my wires crossed?

If it was stoSorry meant expire for bus travel, if you are at £4 limit and dropped your card I couldnt use it that day, I was discussing this with a mate at the weekend and I assume thats what he was implying, hibs are so **** just now that we are discussing buses 😆

[danhibees1875]

Sorry meant expire for bus travel, if you are at £4 limit and dropped your card I couldnt use it that day, I was discussing this with a mate at the weekend and I assume thats what he was implying, hibs are so **** just now that we are discussing buses 😆

I'm pretty sure that's not correct. You just won't get charged any more, whether it's you making your third and final bus journey or some thief who's taken your card and jumping on every 14 to ride back and forth over North bridge for a laugh.

[Hibbyradge]

You're right. The £4 is a cap, same as London.

The problem is the bus driver wouldn't let you use your card for you and your wife. You could be using your card all day for all your family and be charged the capped £4 at the end of it - they'll be trying to stop that happening.

The card system is an extra way to pay. If they don't have enough cards, they can use cash as they always did.

There's really nothing negative about it.

[MSK]

I'm pretty sure that's not correct. You just won't get charged any more, whether it's you making your third and final bus journey or some thief who's taken your card and jumping on every 14 to ride back and forth over North bridge for a laugh.You could be correct, Im sure thats what he said though, Im still old school with cash, never the correct amount though 😆

[MSK]

I'm pretty sure that's not correct. You just won't get charged any more, whether it's you making your third and final bus journey or some thief who's taken your card and jumping on every 14 to ride back and forth over North bridge for a laugh.Aye, I was talking bollox... 😆

The bus provider has also revealed that they will be the first service in Scotland to introduce a daily fare cap, similar to the London model, which means passengers will no longer need to know what specific ticket they need to buy.

For one tap of your card you will be charged an adult single fare, but after three or more taps on the same day the cost will be capped at the price of an adult day ticket price, meaning customers won't have to worry about overspending.



Launching city wide on Wednesday the service will be available on all Lothian Buses.

The company's commercial director says contactless payments have been at the top of their customers' wish lists for some time.

Nigel Serafini, said: "We are delighted to be launching city-wide contactless payment for our customers. With more and more of our transactions becoming 'cashless', it was important to recognise the demand for this capability across our fleet.

"This has been at the top of customers' wish lists for some time and we're pleased to be able to deliver an easy and convenient method of payment, which removes the need to carry cash, or know at the start of the day how many journeys you plan to make.

"The capping system means that our customers will always get the cheapest daily fare possible, no matter how their travel plans might change throughout the day."

The new payment system on Lothian's services has been developed by long-term ticketing and fare collection technology partner Flowbird Transport Intelligence, working with Visa, the global digital payments company.



The managing director of Flowbird says the new system will make bus travel in Edinburgh "easier than ever before."

Owen Griffith said: "This new contactless and fare capped system will make bus travel in the city easier than ever before, while simultaneously applying maximum daily fares rules for multiple journeys.

"We have delivered this innovation in partnership with Lothian and it marks another successful milestone in our long-standing relationship."

Steven Orelowitz, Head of Transit, Europe, Visa, said: "The UK continues to lead the way when it comes to contactless payment systems on public transport and we are thrilled to have partnered with Lothian to bring it to their buses.

"People now expect to pay as swiftly and seamlessly for travel as they do for any other purchase, so the introduction of contactless is a huge step forward for Edinburgh, and a boost to the customer experience for both residents and visitors to the city."