ZoneCard
ZoneCard is a travel card issued by the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, formerly Strathclyde Passenger Transport in Scotland.
Usage
The scheme divides the SPT area into 9 regions distinguished by a letter
D for Dumbarton
S for Strathkelvin
G for Glasgow
Y for Yokels
R for Renfrew
K for Kilmarnock
A for Ayr
H for Hamilton
L for Lanark
which are further subdivided into zones dividing the main towns of the area for example Ayr, Prestwick and Troon are in A1, A2 and A3 respectively
there are a total of 77 zones. A pass which contains 3 zones in one region is valid throughout the whole region, for example if someone had a pass covering Balloch to Anniesland (D3, D2, D1 & G8) it would be valid throughout the D region. The exception to this is the Glasgow area for which you must posesses a valid inner Glasgow, outer Glasgow and non Glasgow zone. The city centre is served by both inner Glasgow zones, and purchasing one of these entitles the user to use the subway system in both areas.
A ZoneCard consists of a photocard and a paper counterpart which displays the validity period and is used for operating the barriers on Glasgow's Subway. Previously, passengers who have validated their tickets for the Subway needed to have their tickets manually checked at the ticket barriers at Glasgow Queen Street station because the barriers accept only standard-sized Subway tickets. In 2004, the Glasgow Queen Street barriers were updated so that ZoneCards did not need validation to operate them [1]. The card can be purchased in durations of 1 week, 4 weeks, 10 weeks, and 1 year.
The ZoneCard can be used to gain free travel with any participating transport provider within the 'zones' that the holder has purchased. With a total of approximately 70 transport providers—across bus, rail, and ferry services—in the scheme, there are very few companies who do not accept ZoneCards.
Operators criticise the complexity of the zone system, (77 zones compared with 8 in Transport for London)'s scheme the Tfl area is much smaller (614 square miles is slightly smaller than South Lanarkshire but contains 90 more Underground stations than SPT contains train stations, the bus network in SPT is considerably larger due to the size of the area.
Revenue
The revenue from the scheme is split between the participating operators (the administration costs are absorbed by SPT) based on a number of factors, such as the number of routes operated by a provider, an annual user survey, and passenger counts by SPT officials. Some operators (notably First ScotRail) are guaranteed a certain percentage of the revenue regardless of these factors. Aside from the previously mentioned administration costs, the scheme is designed to be self-supporting, unlike some other tickets which are subsidised with public money to help the significant percentage of households in the region that do not have access to a car.