A work colleague of mine wasn't happy yesterday (Monday) as his Stagecoach 1 didn't turn up so he was half an hour late. He than had to wait and watch lots of Citybus 42s go by as he waited for the Stagecoach to turn up - as he says - they are a lot cheaper than Citybus for a weekly ticket. He was then surprised to find that the fare for the weekly ticket had gone up!
I was equally surprised by this as I had not seen anything to suggest fares were going up so I headed for the Stagecoach Web site (not holding my breath as I know how awful this site is)
From previous experience I know that you can often find things hidden in the Promos and Offers section or sometimes the News and Blog section (which probably makes more sense)
Here we get all sorts of pages (notice the two different Timetable changes pages - one is for April and one is for May - you have to check both to find out which is which!)
There we have it - Fare Changes 2019
From 28 April 2019 we are changing the price of a number of our single, return, day and season tickets. One aim of our fares review was to simplify our fares structure and reduce the overall number of single fares. In reality, this will mean that some fares have gone down, some have remained the same and some have increased.
Most fares across Torbay have been frozen, except where they are harmonised with services run by other Stagecoach depots, into other areas.
In a bid to increase the flexibility of ticket options we have rolled out new 1+2 Dayrider tickets in all zones that don’t currently have them. This allows an adult to take two children with them for a day’s unlimited bus travel in the applicable zone at a discounted cost, in comparison to the current ticket options.
We’re introducing a new Inner Zone to our Plymouth ticket structure, allowing customers a competitive priced ticket for city centre travel. Fares are included on the table below.
Our Niterider will remain just £3 and gives unlimited travel on any of our buses, excluding the South West Falcon, after 7pm until end of service. If you are signed up to our 'Xtra' monthly payments and there is a change to your ticket price, the new price will take effect from your first payment after 26 May 2019.
Elsewhere on the site there is a map of the zones 
I like how the Inner zone has a little kink to extend out to Derriford / The George although Plymstock passengers might feel a bit hard done by as the inner zone only reaches Laira Bridge.
Its nice to have all the information, it just would have been nicer if it was easier to find!
To be fair i knew about this a few weeks ago although they kept the zonal statem quiet until last Friday. They could be better at putting in a good plce on website but it is on most buses to see.
ReplyDeleteI like the way the inner zone stretches to Derriford... fancy gaining more customers here perhaps? If you travel from City to Derriford monthly pass is almost £20 a month more on Citybus compared to Stagecoach
I complained on Saturday to their Twitter that the website still showed nothing and a link was provided in the afternoon, but only posting the changes less than 12 hours before is woeful.
ReplyDeleteStagecoach really sneaked this fare increase in.
ReplyDeleteThe first I knew about it was a small poster on the bus I used Saturday 27th.
The extra 'Inner Zone' makes the fare structure more complicated not simpler and will create a lot of confusion for passengers and drivers. For example, Tesco Roborough is now in the more expensive 'Outer Zone'
I'm sure this wasn't done to extract yet more money out of their paying passengers!
Definitely a bit sneeky but agian not the best website at hte best of times !
ReplyDelete