A loophole which allowed Bristolians to stockpile single journey bus tickets on First buses for upwards of a year remains closed, but only to adults. Prior to November, passengers could use the FirstBus app to stockpile single journey tickets at £2 each which could be kept for a year.
Bristol Live reported in late November that the loophole had been closed, meaning that single journey tickets could only be redeemed within 30 days. It also could not be used past December 31. Tickets already purchased were exempt from this.
It was also noted that this had only applied to the ‘Bristol Flat Fare Single Adult’ tickets, but it was unconfirmed whether this would be added to other single tickets, such as for students and children, or whether it would affect West of England tickets, too.
However, days after the national single journey cap rose to £3, which saw the price of a single journey in Bristol rise to £2.40 (or £3 for journeys above six miles), the app shows that the restrictions remain in place for adults only. The description on the adult single tickets said: “This product must be activated within 30 days of purchase.” The same description can be found on the ‘West of England Single Adult’ tickets, which cost £3 each.
On all other single journey tickets, which affect the Bristol area, purchases can be used anytime within 12 months, meaning that those tickets could be stockpiled for the future. These other tickets include:
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Bristol Flat Fare Single Student (£2.16)
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Bristol Flat Fare Single Young Person (£1.80)
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Bristol Flat Fare Single Child (£1)
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West of England Single Student (£2.70)
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West of England Single Young Person (£2)
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West of England Single Child (£1)
On January 1, price rises came into force across the region which saw a Bristol day ticket go up to £6.50 each and weekly tickets now costing £26.50. Two journey tickets, which previously were discounted, were also scrapped during these changes.
To view the new prices for FirstBus tickets, click here. Stagecoach has also raised prices in line with the new single journey bus fare cap, for those new prices, click here.
Recently, First announced that within the West of England region, which includes Bristol, Bath and north and east Somerset, passenger numbers increased by 5.3 million between January and November in 2024 from the previous year. Punctuality of buses (which is defined as buses arriving between one minute early and five minutes and 59 seconds late) fell from 82.6 per cent in 2023 to 82 per cent in 2024.
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