Just the ticket! Making the bus simpler

21 November 2019

Bus passengers in Peterborough will be pleased to see Stagecoach has made family bus tickets easier and cheaper.

Stagecoach got rid of the family ticket for one adult and two children under 12 and cut the price of that for one adult and two children under 16 by almost a third.

The tickets also have ‘under 16’ printed on them after we suggested this would help passengers and bus drivers clear up what age counted as a child.

The move ties into research we did earlier this year with bus operators and local authorities participating in a series of workshops organised by Transport Focus to discuss how to make buses more appealing to young people.

Making bus a better choice for young people found that participants wanted exactly this – ticket prices that were straightforward and easy to understand. Buses, particularly finding out about fares, should be as easy as ordering pizza!

The research found good practice from around the country on how to encourage this:

  • In the West Midlands half price travel for under 18s was extended to apprentices and trainees. This resulted in an extra 31,000 young people getting 50 per cent off bus travel.
  • In Liverpool a flat fare of £2.20 was offered for under 19s which gave unlimited travel for the day.
  • In West Yorkshire they made sure all pupils in school uniform catching the bus would be charged a half fare.

Young people want using the bus to be as simple and intuitive as possible. Bus operators and local authorities must seize the opportunity to cater for their customers of the future.

So more of this please. It all helps encourage more people to Give Bus a Go!

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