Author: Jim

Stagecoach Fares to Rise

by Jim

In what appears to be a co-ordinated move across much of the Stagecoach Group, bus fares are set to rise in July.

The government’s national £3 fare cap restricts bus companies’ ability to increase fares, but it does still allow some scope, especially with daily and weekly tickets that are not covered by the cap.

Locally, Stagecoach says that its £2 fare will rise to £2.10 and journeys priced at £2.30 will rise to £2.40 but that there will be no other changes to single fares and the £3 cap remains in place.

The company claims that most customers will not see a change to the fare they pay, but the popular Bay Area DayRider ticket, which currently operates as a surrogate day return for many passengers, will increase from £5.70 to £6 and will no longer offer a discount over two capped single fares. The Lancashire Day Ticket, which covers a wider area, remains at £10 and the North West Explorer , covering Lancashire, Cumbria and into Scotland and Northumbria has also been frozen at £12.

Child and Young Person Fares

Child and Young Person (under-19) fares are also going up, with slightly higher increases in percentage terms to bring them up to 2/3rds of the Adult fare. The £1.30 and £1.50 child fares both increase by 10p

Despite the steadily diminishing number of passengers paying in cash, bus companies still feel the need to round-up fares to the next 10p to reduce the need to handle change, which inevitably means higher percentage increases for some fares. A major victim this time is the Child and Young Person DayRider, which rises from £4 to £4.30 – a 7.5% increase compared to the 5.3% applied to the adult ticket, both increases being above the prevailing level of inflation.

Weekly Tickets

The 7-day Bay Area MegaRider is increased by £1 to a new rate of £22 but still offers a substantial discount over paying day or single fares. The North West Gold MegaRider also goes up by £1 to £37.

When?!

In a move that makes it look as if Stagecoach desperately needs the money, the increase comes into effect on 16 July – a Wednesday! It appears that the days when new fares were introduced on a Sunday, to give drivers and passengers a chance to get used to them on a quieter day of the week, are long gone and perhaps, in the days of payment by card, phone or app, no longer necessary.

Lonsdale Buses updates its website

by Jim

After a lengthy period during which the Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire website was not updated, leading to the display of out-of-date information, including timetables, the company now has a new site, which reflects its current “Lonsdale Buses” branding.

Designed in a similar way to the company’s app launched earlier this year, the site includes details of timetables and fares (although not ordinary single and return fares) along with details of its coach hire operation and a contact form for more information. Also included is a map based “live times” page, although when the Bus Users’ Group attempted to use this it still appeared to be at a developmental stage. The site is illustrated with images of the company’s buses, some of which were supplied by the Bus Users’ Group.

Minor Issues

Although there seem to be one or two minor issues to be ironed out, it is good to see an up-to-date website from Lancaster’s “other” bus operator to complement Stagecoach.

Whilst it would be better still if someone – the “Enhanced Partnership” perhaps? – could develop a unified site that held ALL bus related information in one place, the new site is a great improvement on what was there before.

To access the site, go to https://klch.co.uk from where you can use the contact form to supply feedback (to Lonsdale Buses, not the Bus Users’ Group!) and please note that the old address: www.klch.co.uk no longer works.