‘Johnny Don’t Go to Ballincollig’ was the refrain for Cork musician John Spillane’s well-known song first recorded in 1998.
But 20 years later, singer-songwriter Spillane has most definitely changed his tune, and it’s all thanks to Leap!
Under new bus fare structures for Bus Éireann services in the Cork city area, the city zone has been expanded to include suburbs like Ballincollig, Glanmire, Blarney and Carrigaline. This combined with further savings for Leap passengers, mean that bus travel between the city centre and these towns is better value than ever.
With the changes to the city fare zone, a passenger travelling in from say Ballincollig into Cork city who previously was paying €4.40 cash or €3.52 Leap will now pay or €2.70 cash or as little as €1.89 with Leap.
In other words, a cash customer moving to Leap can now make a total saving of almost 50%.
That’s why Spillane is now singing a NEW version of his popular tune, part of which features on a new ad campaign for city bus services in Cork:
“Johnny go on to Ballinacollig.
“Johnny go to Carrigaline.
“Come on down to Glanmire Johnny.
“I’m coming with you this time.”
Anne Graham Chief Executive of the NTA said: “In determining fares, we looked closely at the travel patterns in Cork city and suburbs, and it was clear to us that based on population density and job density, that the city fare zone should be extended.
“We are also further incentivising modal shift in these areas by adding a further discount for passengers using Leap. All in all it adds up to great value for both new and existing passengers on Bus Éireann’s city services in Cork.”
Bus Éireann’s Regional Manager, Martin Walsh said: “The NTA’s recently announced fare determination has provided for savings of up to 30% on single city trips – reducing a city journey from €2.30 to €1.61 – and ongoing promotion and take-up of this is also important here. In addition the exiting Red zone has been extended to incorporate locations such as Crosshaven, Ballincollig, Blarney and Glanmire.
Sixteen new double deck buses and nine new coaches were introduced into the Cork fleet during 2017, to cater for this growing passenger demand. These high capacity state-of-the-art vehicles which feature Double USB-sockets, WI-FI on board, high back extra cushioned seats as well as on board real time passenger information screens. The addition of these will complement the existing fleet which transports an average of 40,000 passengers per day in and around Cork.
Funding for the new vehicle came from the National Transport Authority (NTA) and Bus Éireann continue to work with them on ongoing network development”