{"id":7903,"date":"2014-06-10T16:09:06","date_gmt":"2014-06-10T15:09:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/?p=7903"},"modified":"2014-06-10T16:13:00","modified_gmt":"2014-06-10T15:13:00","slug":"fleetwood-traders-blame-tram-pass-cancellation-for-profit-drop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/?p=7903","title":{"rendered":"Fleetwood traders blame tram pass cancellation for profit drop"},"content":{"rendered":"

Small businesses in Fleetwood are claiming that the recent decision to cease accepting concessionary travel passes from Wyre residents on the Blackpool tramway has harmed their profits, to the extent that their long-term viability is now under threat. Just over two months after the changes were introduced, meaning that Blackpool residents with the pass can travel free by tram but residents of Fleetwood and Cleveleys must pay full price, and local traders say they are feeling the pinch as a result of less elderly people travelling by tram.<\/p>\n

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Although pass holders can still travel free on the parallel Line 1 promenade bus service, it is feared that many have simply stopped travelling altogether as they refuse to use the buses, or pay to make their journeys by tram. Suggestions to introduce a lower fare for pass holders in local towns who fall outside of the Blackpool boundary have fallen on deaf ears, whilst none of the local authorities are willing to subsidise the substantial costs of restoring the free travel offer. Blackpool Transport, understandably, cannot afford to offer this unless they are compensated in part for the lost revenue, and so the present situation seems unlikely to change for the forseeable future in spite of the many complaints.<\/p>\n

Wyre Council leader Peter Gibson has reportedly dimissed an offer from County Hall to share the cost of reintroducing the acceptance of NoW Cards on the tramway, stating that he believes Blackpool Council should foot the bill themselves. In return, Blackpool Council representatives claim that passengers have simply transferred their custom to buses – something which Derek Eaton of the Fleetwood Chamber of Trade does not believe. He claims that the spring has witnessed “the worst trading I have ever known, including when the tram tracks were dug up”, and has said “it must be affecting traders in Blackpool too because nobody is going from Fleetwood to Blackpool. The trams are just running empty. Wyre Council has got its hands tied because it is not a transport authority but we have got an economic crisis facing us.\u201d He also claims that Blackpool Council have refused to consider allowing pass holders from Fleetwood travel at a flat rate of \u00a31 due to legal restrictions, and that Wyre residents “already contribute so much to the LCC coffers that it would be unfair to pay twice”.<\/p>\n

David Borrow, the Deputy Leader of Lancashire County Council, says: “us putting money forward actually means council tax payers from the rest of Lancashire would be paying so Wyre residents can use the trams”, using this as the reason not to go ahead with what is being asked of them.<\/p>\n

However, some of what councillors and traders are saying is denied by representatives of Blackpool Council, with Councillor John Jones, representing Highways & Transport, telling the local press that tram patronage has fallen by just 1% whilst bus passengers have shown a massive increase. He added; \u201cAll in all, 28,000 more people used public transport along the seafront route between Starr Gate and Fleetwood in April than during the same period last year.”<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only change is that individuals are paying for it, and no longer relying on Blackpool Council rate payers to fund each and every journey. If Fleetwood businesses feel that they need help with concessionary travel, then it is down to Lancashire and Wyre Councils to come to a solution with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

With such mixed messages being put out it seems highly unlikely that the various parties will reach a decision to change the status quo anytime soon, and therefore the complaints from traders and local residents – justified or not – look set to continue.<\/p>\n

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A typical daily scene from May 2014 with Flexity 001 - with stickers promoting a current promotion on tram fares - seen at North Pier. How busy these trams are is a hot topic right now and the answer seems to vary depending on who you ask! (Photo by Andrew Waddington)<\/p><\/div>\n

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Small businesses in Fleetwood are claiming that the recent decision to cease accepting concessionary travel passes from Wyre residents on the Blackpool tramway has harmed their profits, to the extent that their long-term viability is now under threat. Just over … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7903"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7903"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7908,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7903\/revisions\/7908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}