Features / Bristol
First Bristol wants customers to ditch cash and embrace mobile tickets instead.
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Local bus company First Bristol has been running a campaign to make people aware that some single fares will change from the beginning of April, when single journey fares bought from the driver will go up by 30 pence. For the second time customers can beat the rise by buying their tickets via the company’s smart phone app or its Touch smart card, which won’t be affected. As a result, single tickets bought on mTicket or Touch will be 50 pence cheaper compared to tickets bought from the driver.
The company says that if around half of its customers paid via mTickets or Touch smart card, it would significantly improve punctuality and potentially shave more than ten percent from a typical bus journey. In addition to making single journeys much cheaper on mTicket app and Touch smart card, First Bristol has introduced a new feature which enables adults to buy mTickets for children and share these with the mTicket app on their child’s smart phone, so parents need no longer provide their children with cash to pay for bus travel.
is needed now More than ever
First Bus. Anne O’Driscoll using the M Ticket app on the Mendip Explorer service, Clutton, 26 Oct 2016
James Freeman, Managing Director of First Bristol said: “We are encouraging our customers to stop buying tickets on the bus and instead switch to using mTickets on our popular mobile phone app – or Touch smart card for people without a smart phone. Not only will passengers save money, but by adopting mTickets they will help speed up boarding times and help the bus be more punctual or get to its end destination quicker.”
He added: “Our Bristol Inner Zone single ticket on mTicket remains among the cheapest in the country. An independent benchmarking study of bus fares across Great Britain published in February showed that almost 90 per cent of the UK pays more for a comparable journey than the £1.50 for a Bristol Inner Zone adult single on our mTicket app. What’s more, the £4 Bristol inner zone day ticket is well below the national average with about two-thirds of the UK paying more for a day ticket.”
First Bus. James Freeman, First bus Managing Director. Bristol. 18 Jan 2017
The company decided to increase its prices in two steps over five months to give passengers time to get used to the change and mobile app payments. The approach has been successful; 1 in 5 tickets bought in Bristol is now an mTicket. What’s more, a recent customer survey, in which more than 1,500 bus passengers took part, showed 96% of respondents would recommend the app to friends.
www.firstgroup.com/bristol-bath-and-west/tickets/ticket-types/mtickets
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