I see that bus fares are to rise on Arriva again from 3rd March, mininum fare up 10p for Adults to £2.10 and Liverpool Weekly's up to £15.00. Cant remember any more as only seen the notice as I was getting off so only a very quick glance. No doubt Stagecoach will follow in due course.
Another thing I noticed was that the local fare in St Helens is going down to £1.50 Off Peak for a 3 month period. I only seen the notice briefly but also noticed that the North West Dayrider is up to £4.80 (from £4.60).
Having had a closer look at the notice on the way home, this is what is happening.
The £1.50 single Off Peak fare in St Helens is a 3 month promotional offer only valid Monday - Friday 9.30 am to 02.29 pm on routes 31, 32, 32A, 33, 33A, 34, 34A, 35, 35A, 36, 36A, 37 and 38 within Merseyside only.
The highest fare will be £3.20. Fares higher than this will be reduced. Other fares will generally increase although some will decrease.
The North West Weekly ticket rises to £19 and the day ticket up to £4.80.
A few observations:
1. Arriva obviously think that Peak hours include evenings and Weekends given the time restrictions on the new £1.50 local St Helens single fare.
2. They still think the 33A exists when it was withdrawn in September.
3. I do wonder if they think there is going to be some competition in the St Helens area in the next few months.
So, realistically, the £1.50 single is very impractical to anybody whom actually buys a ticket. In that time period, the majority of passengers are likely pass users anyway. I'm just glad I have my student ticket with the weekly rising to a rather shocking £19 a week.
Talking of 'Town' discount tickets, Arriva Winsford have brought out the 'Hopper' ticket in Winsford, Crewe and Northwich.
Adult Single £1.30
Child Single £0.90
in the discount area, into the town centre.
Liverpool Zone:
£2.10 Adult flat fare
£1.70 Student/16+ (Remains unchanged)
£1.40 Child flat fare
I think I read that the Liverpool Day Ticket is now £4.00? (I may be mistaken)
They've gone up again?! Lovely to know that they've gave us plenty of prior notice to this...getting beyond a joke now. Fair enough they're buying "posh" new Hybrids and gas buses but the fact is with fares rising and crap buses like Marshall Darts and the scruffy unrefurbished Renowns and Cadets people are going to be deterred from using the bus, not being dragged onto them. Ridiculous is the only word which describes it without swearing...
Funny enough, it doesnt seem all that long since they last went up, although it is probably longer than I think. When was the last rise as I cant remember.
1st April last year wasn't it? Remember that caused murder and there were articles in the Echo about it. Just as you get used to one set of fares, they go up again!
That rise last year was quite steep as the Child tickets went up from being half to two thirds the Adult price - that's what caused the uproar.