Local bus operator First West of England will be making changes to some of its fares in Bath and the surrounding area from Sunday 11th November 2018, it has announced.
The changes will result in simplified fare zones, further incentives for customers to save by purchasing tickets before they board the bus and savings for customers who currently buy West of England Zone tickets.
Generally, mTicket and smartcard fares are unchanged, while there are increases for on the bus payments. The popular 3 stop hop ticket will increase to £1.20, the first change since 2013.
All day, night, week, month and year mTicket prices are frozen for another year, reflecting the rapid uptake of mobile ticketing over the past 2 years.
The huge growth of mTickets is helping to improve boarding speed and the journey experience for customers, First Bus have said.
Adult day, night and week tickets bought on the bus will increase to £4.50, £3.50 and £20.00 respectively, with the hope that customers will make the switch to mTickets.
Customers can also match the mTicket price by using the Travelwest smartcard, which is available online and at First’s travel shops at Bath and Bristol bus stations.
The smartcard can also be topped up at a number of Payzone stores in Bath, giving customers a broad range of options to buy before they board. To further speed up boarding, smartcard top-ups will no longer be available on the bus.
For the first time, the company is also giving customers who travel infrequently the option to buy one single ticket on the mTicket app, with a significant saving against the on-bus price. This will allow more customers to switch to mobile ticketing without having to pay for multiple journeys upfront.
Customers currently paying West of England Zone fares will benefit from significant reductions because First Bus are simplifying the fare zones.
The Bath & Bristol Outer Zone is being removed, with the West of England Zone covering all travel not contained within the Bristol, Bath and Weston-super-Mare zones.
Adult day tickets in the West of England Zone are reduced by £1.00 if bought before boarding the bus, week tickets by £3.00, month tickets by £16.00 and year tickets by a significant £210. The discounts of up to 50% for children and up to 30% for students as well as those aged 16-21 will result in reduced West of England Zone fares for these customers too.
Customers who purchase Bath & Bristol Outer Zone tickets before 11th November and valid for travel after that date will be able to use their tickets for travel across the whole West of England Zone.
Customers who previously bought Bath & Bristol Outer Zone tickets will buy West of England Zone tickets from 11th November. The price of tickets bought on the bus will increase for these customers but mTicket prices for day, night, week, month and year tickets are unchanged from their old Outer Zone levels – and allow travel across the whole West of England Zone.
Single ticket prices in the West of England Zone will all increase by £0.50, and the pack of 10 single journeys previously available for the Bath & Bristol Outer Zone will now be sold as a West of England Zone pack of 5 single journeys at £3.50 per journey, available on mTickets, Travelwest smartcard and from the Bristol Bus Station travel shop.
Prices for the University of Bath and Bath Spa University Uni Bus services were set at the beginning of the academic year and are unaffected by these changes.
Students who purchased a Bath & Bristol Outer Zone Uni Year ticket will also benefit from now being able to use their ticket across the whole West of England Zone.
Commenting on the changes, First West of England Managing Director James Freeman said: “We continue to see significant growth in the number of people using our buses in Bath and the surrounding areas, and these new fares will ensure we can continue to make the investment in our people and fleet that is necessary to meet this rising demand.
“Speeding up journeys is more critical now than ever, so our new fares provide a further incentive for even more customers to buy before they board, which will help further speed up the boarding process and keep our buses moving.
“We are also delighted that customers currently travelling in our West of England Zone will see significant reductions when buying day and longer duration tickets.”
Full details of the changes can be found at: www.mynewticket.co.uk.