The recent changes to the cost of bus tickets in Bristol have seen passengers take to social media with some going as far as calling the changes “appalling”. The changes were brought in as a result of the single journey bus fare cap being raised to £3 from £2 and has affected FirstBus and Stagecoach buses across the region.
Despite the national cap being set at £3, most single journeys will cost £2.40 on First buses, with those above six miles costing the full £3. Stagecoach has also raised the price of single journeys in Bristol to the same level, but for those making longer journeys or journeys in South Gloucestershire, it would cost £3.
Most tickets have gone up in price and vary depending on location. A day ticket on First buses, for adults, costs £6.50 in Bristol, £5 in Weston-super-Mare and £7 across the West of England region. An adult weekly ticket in Bristol is now £26.50 and a monthly ticket £92.
The price of a monthly ticket for Stagecoach buses depends on whether their app is used. Buying on buses will mean a weekly ticket will cost £23 and day tickets costing £6.20.
The rise in price of a single journey, from £2 to £2.40, brought a largely muted response, but the price of a monthly ticket on First for adults proved to be more controversial. One commenter on Facebook said: “Yes [to] keeping the single fare down but hiking the monthly ticket [by] £9 from £83 to £92 would be ok if the service was decent.”
Passengers on various social media platforms, including Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Reddit, reacted angrily to discounted two-way journeys being scrapped. What was initially £3.80 (a 20p discount before the cap was raised) has now become £4.80, a £1 increase per day.
A commenter, who reacted to a story from Bristol Live about the impending changes on December 31, said: “Not having a return fare either is appalling.” A Reddit post was created in the aftermath of the price changes which showed that the cost of two journeys costs 26 percent more than before the changes, whilst a single journey went up by 20 percent.
One set of tickets did remain the same following the price rises which were welcomed by people on social media. The price of a child single ticket remained at £1 and a commenter said: “I’m glad the kids’ bus fares are still £1.”
The outcry over the price rises was also slammed by some people on the internet, prior to the cap being introduced in September 2022, journeys were more expensive. One comment said: “Nobody can complain. The cap was only temporary and we were paying £2.60 a single before the cap,” and another added: “To be honest £2.40 isn’t a bad rise.”
Other complaints made online refer to the bus service as a whole in Bristol, which has seen some services changed and reliability of the network questioned. Some questioned whether the rising of the prices will encourage people to use the buses.
Speaking in December, Rob Pymm, Commercial Director for First Bus in the West of England, said: “Some of our fares will be changing from January 1 in response to the UK government’s £3 fare cap. While we had the option of increasing some fares by a larger amount, we’ve worked closely with local transport authorities to keep fares for most passengers 20% lower than the government’s cap.
“Despite growing costs and increasing our network of services, we’ve worked hard to minimise the impact of this fare change, and demonstrate our ongoing commitment to encouraging more people to travel sustainably by bus. Bus travel remains a great value option that is good for society and the environment. We’re continuing to invest in bus services, and our Tap On, Tap Off technology remains the easiest and quickest way to pay, ensuring customers get the best value fare for their journey.”
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