News / Transport
Could virtual tickets speed up Bristol buses?
First the bad news for Bristol bus users – if you pay for your bus ticket with cash fares are going up.
In a statement First Bristol said the rises are needed because of rising operational costs, partly caused by the city’s congestion problems.
However, if you pay for your tickets using a new digital phone app prices will stay the same.
is needed now More than ever
The company claims if around 50% of its customers paid digitally using a mTicket phone app or Touch smart ticket it could cut the amount of time buses wait at bus stops by around 10 per cent, improve punctuality and journey times.
James Freeman, managing director of First Bristol, said: “Many customers pay with cash, often needing to receive change too. This means that buses can be standing at stops for many minutes on end. We believe that bus journey times could be significantly speeded up if we can dramatically reduce the amount of cash being collected by drivers on our buses.
“Our research shows already that around nine out of ten of our bus passengers own a smartphone and will therefore be able to benefit from our fares freeze easily by switching to m-ticketing. For those without a smartphone there’s our Touch smart card, which offers the same benefits.”
For customers who carry on paying by cash fares will rise from 30th October.
A £1.50 short trip single (one journey under three miles) will go up to £1.70, and the £2.50 long trip single (one journey over three miles) will go up to £2.70. The second increase to single fares is scheduled to take place by April 2017, at which point it will go up a further 30 pence.
However, a £4 day ticket stays at the same price and the £1 three-stop-hop ticket will also remain unaffected. And certain fares will be cheaper as a result of the changes: anyone who paid £3.50 for a single in the Bristol inner zone will now pay £2.70.
Read more: IT problems cause chaos on Bristol buses
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