A bus firm operating in Preston has increased the price of one of its monthly passes by 20 per cent.
AdvertisementPassengers have contacted Blog Preston after receiving a notification the Preston Citi Megarider Extra ticket was going up from £32 per month to £38.40.
Edmund Harrison who gets the Penwortham number three service each day is unhappy with the change.
Stagecoach have responded saying the discount applied to the online Megarider ticket was ‘not sustainable’.
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Commercial director David Shurden said: “We appreciate that any price increases are unwelcome for customers which is why we work hard to protect our passengers as far as possible from fare changes. Unfortunately, there are a number of reasons why the ticket price is changing on this occasion.
“Our online Megarider Xtra ticket was introduced to make it easier for customers to purchase an annual ticket online through a monthly recurring payment and has been heavily discounted for some time now. However, the level of discount against the already discounted other products available was not sustainable, largely due to rising costs and the continued challenging economic environment.
“It is worth noting though that, even at the new price the Xtra ticket is still a better value option over the course of a year than purchasing 28-day tickets or seven-day tickets. In addition, even with these changes, bus travel remains significantly cheaper than commuting by car.
“Stagecoach has three times been independently assessed as offering the lowest fares of any major bus operator in the UK. We continue to reinvest the money from fares in improving our services, such as introducing new buses, smart ticketing, our new website and smartphone app which allow customers to track their bus, mobile ticketing and plans to deliver contactless payments.
“As with other sectors of the economy and local government, we face a challenging economic environment from rising costs and cuts to public sector spending on buses. Overall bus industry operating costs have also been rising at a higher rate than inflation over several years. In addition, increasing road congestion and more use of cars has an impact on the cost and scope of all public transport.”
What do you think of the price change? Do you get the bus in Preston? Let us know in the comments below