A discount travel scheme which saw bus fares cut by up to 50 per cent is set to continue for a further six months.
Stoke-on-Trent City Council has said the Affordable Fares scheme it launched with bus operators in July last year has been “extremely successful” with more than 2.5 million tickets sold so far.
Now it is set to continue until March 31, 2025 giving passengers low-cost travel on services operated by First, D&G, Stantons of Stoke, Scraggs and Arriva Midlands.
However, new prices introduced yesterday, 13 October, have led to an increase in the cost of young persons’ tickets as well as day and year tickets for adults.
Councillor Finlay Gordon-McCusker, cabinet member for transport, infrastructure and regeneration, said: “Our Affordable Fares scheme has been incredibly successful and has even been recognised nationally, by the Department for Transport.
“The discounted bus tickets have made it more affordable for students, workers, families and visitors to get around the city and it’s great to see that so many people have been taking advantage of the scheme which is all part of our ongoing commitment to improving public transport in the city.
“Since we launched Affordable Fares, we have made a number of other improvements including introducing new bus routes in places like Smallthorne, Longton, Burslem and Tunstall, and enhanced and extended services into the evenings and weekends.
“Our ultimate aim is to make it as easy and affordable as possible to get around the city and encourage even more people to use public transport.”
The Affordable Fares Scheme is part of the city council’s Bus Service Improvement Plan which is being funded by £31.6 million from the Department for Transport (DfT).
The new ticket prices were introduced to “make the most of government funding”.
Regarding the increased fares, Cllr Gordon-McCusker added: “We’ve been talking to our local bus operators about how we can make the most of the government funding available to us and ensure we can offer passengers discounted fares for as long as possible.
“This will mean a price increase for some fares, the first price increase since the introduction of the Affordable Fares scheme 15 months ago.
“We have done our absolute best to ensure that we can continue to offer low-cost travel across Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire for as long as possible and we are confident that these new ticket prices are still great value for money in comparison to neighbouring local authorities.”
The new prices are:
Adult day ticket – £4.80 (up from £3.50)
Adult week ticket – £12 (no change)
Adult month ticket – £42 (no change)
Adult three-month ticket – £115 (no change)
Adult year ticket – £504 (up from £400)
Young person’s day ticket – £3.50 (up from £2)
Young person’s week ticket – £9 (up from £7)
Young person’s month ticket – £31.50 (up from £24)
Young person’s three-month ticket – £85 (up from £60)
Young person’s year ticket – £378 (up from £200)
According to the city council, a multi-operator bus ticket in Derby starts at £5.80 a day for adults, whilst adult day tickets through a similar scheme in Leicester start at £5.60 a day. Day tickets in Nottingham start at £6.40 for adults.
More information about the Affordable Fares scheme is available here.
