Mansfield and Ashfield bus route operator announces fares rise from this weekend
Bus company Trentbarton, which operators routes across Mansfield and Ashfield, has announced fare changes which take effect from this weekend.
Faced with rising costs of fuel, parts and wages, Trentbarton increasing some fares from Sunday, January 22.
However, the company says the rise is being kept below the rate of inflation.
And it says travelling by bus remains the green option to cut carbon and air pollution, and will still be cheaper than the equivalent solo journey in a car.
And until the end of March customers can take advantage of the Government- backed £2 single fare cap on all Trentbarton services except for Red Arrow.
As well as being available as £2 cash fares, the discount is included in the Mango app and contactless day, week and 28-day automatic caps so customers will always get the best value fares and never go above the cap limits.
Increased revenue from those fares which are going up will enable Trentbarton to not only pay for its fuel and staff but to continue to invest in its services and fleet to meet the expectations of customers.
The great majority of increases – including popular options such as adult Mango off-peak day cap, up 50p, and Mango anytime day cap, up 20p – are below the UK CPI inflation rate which was up again in November to 9.3 per cent.
Prices being frozen include the Young Explorer at £1, to help families during the cost of living crisis, and the £3.50 Zigzag plus add-on which includes morning peak travel.
Tom Morgan, Trentbarton group commercial director, said: “We are paying considerably more than we were to reward our staff and for fuel and parts and so for our services to remain viable, we have had to increase fares.
“We recognise the pressures everyone is under, but we hope our customers will be reassured that we have worked very hard to keep the average increases below
inflation.
“Customers not yet using our mango app can lessen the impact by making the switch to access a wide range of discounts.”
A full guide to the fare changes is online at trentbarton.co.uk/fares2023