With the lifting of the government’s cap on single bus fares in England from £2 to £3 from the start of the year, Stagecoach has announced details of its fares that will apply when services resume after the New Year break on Thursday, 2nd January.
All medium and long-distance fares from Lancaster, to places such as Morecambe, Carnforth, Galgate, Preston and Keswick will rise to £3, but will still offer substantial savings over the fares that applied before January 2023.
Local Fares
For shorter journeys, there will be fares of £1.80, £2 and £2.30, according to distance. Whilst some passengers currently paying £2 will see an increase of 30p, others will continue to have their fares frozen for a further twelve months, whilst others will experience a small reduction.
The £1.80 fare will take passengers from Lancaster city centre as far as Lily Grove on Greaves Road; Palatine Avenue on Bowerham Road; Scale Hall Spar on Torrisholme Road; Scale Hall Road on the 6A; Noel Road on service 7; Westbourne Road on service 11; Hill Road on Halton Road on the 49 and Barley Cop Lane on the 55 and 555 along Owen Road.
The new £2 uncapped fare will apply to a small number of journeys, including those to Lancaster University (on all services), Hazelrigg Lane on services 40 – 42 and Hathaway Road on service 7.
For £2.30, passengers can travel as far as Lancaster & Morecambe College on service 100; White Lund Industrial Estate on the 6A; Kellet Lane on service 49 and Beaumont College on the 55 and 555. This fare will also apply to those stops on services to Marsh, Vale and Ridge not covered by lower priced tickets.
The new fares are in the Stagecoach Journey Planner and can be checked by making a “Plan jour journey” enquiry and setting the date to 2 January or later.
Day, Week and Longer Tickets
Stagecoach has chosen not to increase the price of its Daily, Weekly and longer period tickets. A Bay Area DayRider will remain at £5.70 and will therefore now offer a small saving over two £3 capped single fares for journeys such as Lancaster to Morecambe.
Similarly the 7-Day Bay MegaRider price has been frozen at £21, meaning that passengers who have been travelling five days a week at a cost of £20 (10 x £2 singles) will suffer only a small increase of £1 a week and will also gain free travel on the remaining two days.
Lancaster Bus Users' Group 
Have return fares been completely scrapped, even between Lancaster and the Uni? I was told this morning I could either buy singles or a Bay Day Rider (albeit for a Lancaster-Morecambe journey).
Yes, almost all return fares were discontinued last year.