Comment posted Please respond to the A83 Petition today by Robert Wakeham.
I’m surprised that you don’t drive around, on principle, if you think that WF is a ripoff, as Calmac’s charges seem remarkably similar, or is it that you don’t think of Calmac as profiting from your money?
Robert Wakeham also commented
- A fair point, Ferryman, but I still think that your habit of endlessly referring to WF’s profits rather than their charges or fares suggests an excessive degree of resentment just because they’re a private company, rather than because of their charges.
The comments made by others about widespread reluctance among ferry operators to publish commercial vehicle rates surprises me, as I would have thought that in this day & age of European regulation there’d be laws insisting on more transparency – unless there was competition that might argue for commercial confidentiality. - You misunderstand – the prices you pay on the Tarbert – Portavadie route are comparable to those on WF’s route, for a similar distance.
- Ferryman you must be the only person in the world that – when reading about road crossing points – thinks of a ferry.
Recent comments by Robert Wakeham
- Radically new council group changes all the dynamics: party politics dead in Argyll
Surely party politics are national politics, dealing with national issues, and as such can often get in the way of resolving the local authority issues that councillors are elected to deal with. - Radically new council group changes all the dynamics: party politics dead in Argyll
Thinking of ornithological similes, the behaviour of the Argyll & Bute body politic brings to mind the story of the fabled Oozlum Bird – the one that flew in ever decreasing circles….. - Transport Scotland publishes shortlist for one A82 contract and starts another
Good news for Crianlarich, and – at last – signs of movement on the long and disgraceful history of central government’s gross neglect of the A82 ‘trunk’ road along the northern shore of Loch Lomond. - One of world’s top minds on radar wins AF Harvey Prize
Reading this I couldn’t help thinking of the analogy with the development of a tracking system to keep tabs on the activities of Argyll & Bute councillors – but I fear that would be way beyond the ingenuity of even the most fertile scientific brains. - Peace Pilgrimage going through Crinan Canal now, en route for Faslane
Promoting Peace, Simon? – wouldn’t the automatic disqualification of councillors who put national party politics before their council responsibilities be more effective?
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Newsroom (aka soapbox) wrote : ” the lack of safe crossing points at Ardrishaig and Tarbert”.
Are you suggesting there is an unsafe ferry crossing operating at Tarbert?
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Ferryman you must be the only person in the world that – when reading about road crossing points – thinks of a ferry.
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If I want to get to Campbeltown I get the ferry from Portavadie to Tarbert. Its not my fault if Newsroom has blinkered vision and cannot see beyond roads.
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I’m surprised that you don’t drive around, on principle, if you think that WF is a ripoff, as Calmac’s charges seem remarkably similar, or is it that you don’t think of Calmac as profiting from your money?
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I just like competition, then I don’t need to worry.
You are correct that the prices on the old streaker service were comparable with WF. But the streakers went further, with more crew, using old inefficient vessels, silly shore ticketing arrangements and a ridiculous timetable – yet the vehicle portion still turned a profit i.e. WF must have been turning a good profit.
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You misunderstand – the prices you pay on the Tarbert – Portavadie route are comparable to those on WF’s route, for a similar distance.
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RW: no you don’t understand basic economics. The WF route carries far higher traffic volumes and has economies of scale not available on the Tarbert route.
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A fair point, Ferryman, but I still think that your habit of endlessly referring to WF’s profits rather than their charges or fares suggests an excessive degree of resentment just because they’re a private company, rather than because of their charges.
The comments made by others about widespread reluctance among ferry operators to publish commercial vehicle rates surprises me, as I would have thought that in this day & age of European regulation there’d be laws insisting on more transparency – unless there was competition that might argue for commercial confidentiality.
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The only way to decide what the fare should be is to look at the level of profit. If the profit level is fair then you cannot really grumble about the fare, however high it is.
That is why you cannot directly compare WF with the Portavadie Tarbert route.
Also whilst dropping fares on WF route would stimulate increased traffic that is less true on Portavadie Tarbert.
High volume low cost ferries is what Dunoon and Cowal need but there is no hope of reduced fares when WF cannot cope with the current demand.
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Your right, given the longer crossing and the additional costs, the fares should have been higher.
Whoops does that mean that the vehcile fares were being kept down by subsidy payments.
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Donald McDonald:
No the certified accounts of the Cowal Ferries (and the earlier review by the EU) showed the vehicle portion made a profit.
So the question is were WF making an excessive profit?
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