Government funded £2 flat fare initiative extended to October on bus travel in South Yorkshire, some other fares will change from 28th May

First South Yorkshire announced back in January that a fare revision would be deferred until March in line with the aspirations of the Mayor, the SY Mayoral Combined Authority, local councillors, and bus users to set out through the Enhanced Partnership to deliver more reliable services, improved bus priority measures and to introduce fare initiatives such as the government funded £2 Adult flat fare offering.

The last time First South Yorkshire’s commercial fares were revised was back in March 2022 and a lot has happened since then, with the inflation backdrop and increased costs that the business has tried to absorb, for as long as it can.

The business constantly monitor’s the travel patterns of its customers and adapts a ticketing portfolio in line with how people are travelling and aim to provide a seamless, easy way to pay for bus travel.

People will see a slight increase in cost to some fares but there are some great value tickets

that are flexible and designed to fit around how people travel. For example, with the Sheffield 5 days in 7 tickets, a person will pay less than the current rate for a day ticket.

For people that travel several times in a day or week, our Day, Week and 4-week tickets remain in place and are available to buy using a contactless payment, First Bus App or in cash from the driver. All details can be found on our website at https://www.firstbus.co.uk/sheffield/news-and-service-updates/news/new-fares-28-may

More and more people are now downloading the First Bus App to buy and store tickets on their phone, meaning you’ll never have to worry about losing a ticket or forgetting your change again. Its super easy to scan each mobile ticket when you hop on board, and you’re ready to go.      

 Coming this summer, the big switch on of ‘Tap on Tap off’ ticketing technology to simplify bus travel

The new ‘Tap on Tap off’ technology will be available this summer and is designed to help simplify how customers pay for their travel. The Tap-On Tap-Off contactless system guarantees customers ultimate flexibility on the fare paid.

Existing options to pay with cash or TravelMaster smartcards remain unchanged.

How the new Tap on Tap off system will work,

Tap the card reader next to the driver on entry with a digital bank or credit card, the system will then charge for a single journey or customers who make several bus journeys will pay a capped adult day or weekly price depending upon how often they travel. On exiting the bus, Tap off using the card reader on the hand rail next to the doors.

Mike Watson, Interim Managing Director at First South Yorkshire said; -

“It has been 14 months since our last fare revision, and within that time a lot has happened to influence financial costs to the business to which we have tried to absorb.

“We constantly review the changing travel patterns of our customers and know that flexibility is important for people when buying bus travel. Our flexible 3 in 7 and 5 in 7 tickets along with day, week and 10 journey tickets remain the most popular travel options, all available on our app and from the driver.

“We have invested over £300k in Tap-on Tap-Off technology that is due to go live in the summer and provides another important step forward in simplifying journeys and to pave the way for an all-operator integrated system in the future”

“It is crucial, that for us to improve bus provision across the South Yorkshire region, we need to work together in partnership. We can then aspire to see better services, more demand and confidence returning from people wanting to use buses as their preferred method of travel”.