Fares freezes and discount plans help maintain affordable travel across the city
Brighton & Hove Bus Company has announced that from 22 April 2015 when fares are due to be revised, many fares will be frozen at today’s prices. There will be a freeze on all cash fares purchased on-board, and all types of student and child and family fares have been frozen until 2016.
New discounted tickets have been introduced. A “sibling saver” ticket has been made immediately available for families – with the purchase of a second ticket for a young person the discount offers nearly one third off the price of a 12 month SAVER (£290 to £200) and reduces a 90 day SAVER from £90 to £80. Other family discounts include the Family Day ticket which for only £9 allows a family of five to travel unlimited throughout the city. This price has been frozen for the third consecutive year. The nationally renowned BusID scheme has also been providing families with savings for children and parents for many years.
A new reduced 1 day ticket for students priced at £3 as a mobile ticket and has now become available on the Key as well as m-ticket. The ticket provides unlimited travel over the whole of the Brighton & Hove network including night services and provides a saving of nearly 30% on the usual adult fare.
While putting up prices of some off bus tickets, significant savings are still to be had buying tickets in advance of travel the bus company claims.
Martin Harris said: “We recognise that affordable travel is vital to the success of the economic and social life of the city. We aim for simplicity and great value for money by investing in better buses and more frequent services. Our pre-purchased tickets still offer very good discounts against standard prices. We aim to keep any increases in fares to a minimum, and if you track our most heavily used tickets over several years the rises have been broadly in line with inflation”.
In response to customer concerns about the recent drop in fuel prices not having an effect on bus fares, Martin Harris said: “The variable element of fuel prices account for only 9% of our total costs. But in any case, we purchase fuel at fixed prices in advance to maintain stability in our fuel costs – this recent but temporary change in fuel price is therefore not having a benefit for us or for our customers.”.
Brighton & Hove and Coach Company stated that it is essential for fares to keep pace with rising costs enable it to continue to invest in:
· Improving the regular service network – including increased frequencies each year with extra buses and drivers, and 24-hour services, largely provided without local authority subsidy (none from December)
· New buses –investment of millions of pounds into new buses – to improve passenger comfort and air quality, and upgrade the company’s depots and equipment to enable expansion of services for the city.
· Service quality improvements – significant investment in customer service, from smart cards and m-tickets, to apps and real-time information, to accessibility initiatives.
