Worcestershire has some of the highest bus fares in the country but First Bus increased the fares yet again on Sunday 29th April. Single and return fares have risen by up to 50p and all day and season tickets now cost more except electronically downloaded tickets on mobile phones.
A single ticket for the shortest journeys has increased by 22% and a day ticket by 12.5% - well above any pay rises for most people.
Councillor Paul Denham, Labour’s public transport spokesman at the County Council, is concerned that many bus users on low incomes have to spend so much of their hard-earned cash just to get to and from work.
Many residents, including those with disabilities, do not have cars and rely on the buses to get to shops or visit doctors and hospitals.
“It is scandalous,” says Cllr Denham, “that our Conservative-led County Council halved the subsidy to the bus companies. Since then, fares have gone through the roof, services have got worse and some routes have been cancelled. I know local people who are housebound since their local bus route was cancelled and now many others are complaining over these latest fare hikes. Even with these latest increases, services in the evenings are almost non-existent in many parts of the city.
“The Tory leadership of our county council has nothing to say about these increases. They don’t seem to care about people struggling to exist financially and entirely dependent on buses to get about.
A single ticket for the shortest journeys has increased by 22% and a day ticket by 12.5% - well above any pay rises for most people.
Councillor Paul Denham, Labour’s public transport spokesman at the County Council, is concerned that many bus users on low incomes have to spend so much of their hard-earned cash just to get to and from work.
Many residents, including those with disabilities, do not have cars and rely on the buses to get to shops or visit doctors and hospitals.
“It is scandalous,” says Cllr Denham, “that our Conservative-led County Council halved the subsidy to the bus companies. Since then, fares have gone through the roof, services have got worse and some routes have been cancelled. I know local people who are housebound since their local bus route was cancelled and now many others are complaining over these latest fare hikes. Even with these latest increases, services in the evenings are almost non-existent in many parts of the city.
“The Tory leadership of our county council has nothing to say about these increases. They don’t seem to care about people struggling to exist financially and entirely dependent on buses to get about.
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