Bristol inner zone day bus tickets - reduction from 18th October

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From Sunday week people in Bristol will pay less for a day's bus travel on First's extensive network.

Bus operator First West of England has today announced that the price of the Bristol Inner Zone Day Ticket will reduce to ^4 on Sunday 18 October.

The reduction will shave 40p off the current ticket price, which provides unlimited travel across Bristol^s Inner Zone which covers the vast majority of Bristol, it stretches from Aztec West in the north to Whitchurch & Long Ashton in the south as well as Avonmouth & Pill in the west and Warmley, Keynsham & Downend in the east.

The Inner Zone Day Ticket comes down to ^4 for adults, ^2.80 for students and young people* and ^2 for children (between 1900 and 0429 the price reduces to ^3) and is valid from 0430 ^ 0429 the following day. All other ticket prices will stay the same.

Two years ago First in Bristol embarked on a radical review of its fares. The ^Fairer Fares^ initiative changed the way customers pay for travel on board First buses. The impact of this in the Bristol Inner Zone has been overwhelmingly positive with many routes showing at least a 20% rise in passenger numbers.

James Freeman, Managing Director of First West of England said: ^We are announcing this fare reduction because our passenger numbers have continued to rise as bus travel in Bristol has never been more popular - some services have seen up to 70,000 more customers using the bus each month compared to this time two years ago, which is really amazing. ^

He continued: ^Making the ticket ^4 will also speed up boarding times as it makes it easier for our customers to have the right change. We hope that this reduction will encourage more and more people to make bus travel in Bristol their first choice, this is beneficial not only to our customers but to everyone in Bristol, taking more cars off the road and improving the environment for everyone.^

Most people buy their ticket on the bus and now customers can also buy it using First's mTicketing smartphone app (available on The App Store (for iPhones), Google Play (for Android Phones) or Windows Store (for Windows Phones).

* - Student & Young Person ticket includes Students of any age with a valid student card and young people aged 16-21 who have a First Young Person^s Photocard (available at First Travel Shops). Child tickets are valid for anyone aged between 5 ^ 16 years old (under 5s travel free)

[JayMac]

Excellent news. 

The day ticket is back to the price it was prior to the 'Fairer Fares' consultation.

I made the point at the time that while some point-to-point fares had down in price it was a shame that First had decided to raise the price of the most popular product by 10%. This 9% reduction is most welcome.

Also good news to see that Day tickets are being added to the smartphone apps.

[Bmblbzzz]

That was my immediate thought: Last time I took a bus in Bristol, it was ^4! As you can see, I rarely travel by bus (in Bristol at least).

[TonyK]

Making the ticket ^4 will also speed up boarding times

But by nothing like as much as introducing smart card or contactless payment. Like First operate in London. I'm no fan of conspiracy theories, but I'm beginning to think that Bristol is being held back here to make MetroBust look like a good idea when it finally chugs onto the scene.

Lest I sound entirely ungrateful, I am pleased to see the rise in use of public transport, and also to see the reduction in price of the day rider. The biggest limiting factor is now the time it takes for everyone to get on and pay their fare.

When in London, I don't run for the bus because there will be another coming around the corner in a minute. In Bristol, I don't run for the bus because it will still be there five minutes later - taking fares, arguing over change for a tenner, kicking off the twirlies, and all the other things that take longer than the actual journey.

[bobm]

Swindon have a reasonable stab at integrated ticketing in that day tickets are valid on both Thamesdown and Stagecoach. The only problem is the two companies' smartcards are not readable on the other's vehicles. Therefore if you want to use both you have to get a paper ticket from the company who run your smartcard before you board the other company's services.

[JayMac]

But by nothing like as much as introducing smart card or contactless payment. Like First operate in London. I'm no fan of conspiracy theories, but I'm beginning to think that Bristol is being held back here to make MetroBust look like a good idea when it finally chugs onto the scene.

Er...

http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/touchsmartcard/index.html

In correspondence I have been told that day tickets will soon be available on 'touch'.

I haven't used one as I find the smartphone app more convenient.

[TonyK]

Er...

http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/touchsmartcard/index.html

In correspondence I have been told that day tickets will soon be available on 'touch'.

I haven't used one as I find the smartphone app more convenient.

Currently only available for weekly or longer tickets. A start, but only a start, and no use to the less than daily passenger.

[JayMac]

It is a start, and a positive one.

Few bus operators outside London offer day tickets on their smart cards. Fewer still have a Pay As You Go scheme. So criticism of First in Bristol for not doing so is a little unfair.

[Chris from Nailsea]

You would have enjoyed James Freeman's presentation at the TravelWatch SouthWest meeting in Taunton a couple of weekends ago ... 

[TonyK]

It is a start, and a positive one.

Few bus operators outside London offer day tickets on their smart cards. Fewer still have a Pay As You Go scheme. So criticism of First in Bristol for not doing so is a little unfair.

The target for my vitriol is not First, at least they are not the main target. The "back office" for smart cards in Bristol has been in existence for some years. In the mayoral hustings in 2012, candidate Jon Rogers said he had had the chance to introduce smart cards when he held the Cabinet transport brief, but let himself be conned out of it (he did blame First, but what politician doesn't point the finger away from himself?). Our LEP^» (Local Enterprise Partnership - about)'s Joint Transport Executive Committee have been too busy pouring our cash into MetroBust to be bothered with speeding up boarding on "ordinary" buses. There is little interest in improving journey times until MetroBust comes to save the day, because if they did, it would look to the world that they had squandered ^200 million of taxpayers money on an environmentally destructive white elephant.

Meanwhile First (a bus company in London) have an excellent system which allows the use of contactless debit / credit cards (and I got 3% back on my Santander credit card, too!). How difficult would it be to copy that system in Bristol?

You would have enjoyed James Freeman's presentation at the TravelWatch SouthWest meeting in Taunton a couple of weekends ago ... 

Please go on...

[Chris from Nailsea]

You would have enjoyed James Freeman's presentation at the TravelWatch SouthWest meeting in Taunton a couple of weekends ago ... 

Please go on...

Thanks for the invitation - and I wish I could reproduce here just some of what James Freeman said. He is a remarkably impassioned speaker, presenting his views from the heart, with enthusiasm and little if any resort to a script.

I can offer the slides James used (available on the TravelWatch SouthWest website) to hopefully give you some impression of his talk. He was very enthusiastic about 'smart cards' generally, but he did explain that there are still some ongoing practical issues with their 'inter-operability'.

[Red Squirrel]

...chugs...

Quirky of me to pick up such an erudite man as yerself on a point such as this, but wouldn't 'wheezes' have been more appropriate? 'Chugs' sounds too homely and nice.

It is a start, and a positive one.

Few bus operators outside London offer day tickets on their smart cards. Fewer still have a Pay As You Go scheme. So criticism of First in Bristol for not doing so is a little unfair.

The target for my vitriol is not First, at least they are not the main target. The "back office" for smart cards in Bristol has been in existence for some years. In the mayoral hustings in 2012, candidate Jon Rogers said he had had the chance to introduce smart cards when he held the Cabinet transport brief, but let himself be conned out of it (he did blame First, but what politician doesn't point the finger away from himself?). Our LEP^» (Local Enterprise Partnership - about)'s Joint Transport Executive Committee have been too busy pouring our cash into MetroBust to be bothered with speeding up boarding on "ordinary" buses. There is little interest in improving journey times until MetroBust comes to save the day, because if they did, it would look to the world that they had squandered ^200 million of taxpayers money on an environmentally destructive white elephant.

Meanwhile First (a bus company in London) have an excellent system which allows the use of contactless debit / credit cards (and I got 3% back on my Santander credit card, too!). How difficult would it be to copy that system in Bristol?

You would have enjoyed James Freeman's presentation at the TravelWatch SouthWest meeting in Taunton a couple of weekends ago ... 

Please go on...

Can anyone explain why operators don't prioritise the implementation of 'contactless' debit card systems, putting all other 'smart' card systems on the back burner? Is it not safe to assume that within a couple of years the majority of adults will have such a card?

[Bmblbzzz]

I think you can only get non-contactless debit cards on special request now. The problem with them instead of operator-specific smart systems would presumably be recognising weekly and longer tickets.

[Red Squirrel]

OK - I may have misunderstood, but I thought the system used by TfL^» (Transport for London - about) recognised your usage pattern and gave you the best fare, i.e. if you travel every day it gives you the season rate. Is that not the case?

[ChrisB]

It works on the daily cap, and a weekly cap, but not a monthly or annual cap.