Local bus operator, First Aberdeen, today said that it will freeze the overwhelming majority of its fares in 2014 and reduce in price Adult Day tickets.
The company confirmed that it is able to reduce or freeze the majority of its fares, for a second year running, as a result of the increasing numbers of customers travelling on First Aberdeen services. The only fare which will increase is Stage 3-5 of the Adult Single fare.
Details of First Aberdeen’s ‘Annual Fares Review’, which will be implemented from March 30, include:
• Adult FirstDay ticket reduced by 40p to £4.30
• Adult Off Peak FirstDay ticket reduced from £4.10 to £3.80
• Student Academic Term Ticket Promotion (During fresher’s week students can buy this ticket for £300 – a £50 discount)
• All other student tickets frozen
• All season tickets (including FirstWeek) frozen
• All children’s tickets frozen (including single tickets)
• Park and Ride tickets frozen
• First Family Weekend ticket frozen (was reduced by 25% in October 2013)
• Late night services frozen
• Stage 3-5 Single Adult ticket increased by 10p to £2.10. Stages 1-2 and Stages 6+ are frozen at £1.20 and £2.50.
• The ‘Travel Trio’ promotion on return fares operating on Services 11 and 20 will come to an end. Fares will revert to the original price of £2 for Stages 1-2, £2.80 for Stages 3-5 and £4.30 for stages 6+.
• New £3 evening ticket promotion introduced offering unlimited travel after 7pm (not valid on Friday and Saturday late night services)
Duncan Cameron, Director and General Manager of First Aberdeen, said: “We are carrying more than 1,000 extra passengers a day year on year, thanks to extensive improvements we’ve made to our services. Generating this extra demand has enabled us to freeze the overwhelming majority of our fares and reduce our Adult Day tickets. This is good news for our customers.
“Our announcement today builds on the improvements we’ve delivered in the last 18 months, such as brand new vehicles, the launch of the Platinum service and the introduction of mobile ticketing, which enables customers to use their mobile phones as bus tickets.
“We’ve also significantly improved the value for money we offer around fares. At our fares review in 2013, we also reduced or held in price the majority of our fares, meaning most customers will be paying the same or less for bus travel compared to 2012. I’m really pleased, especially given the economic climate, that we’re in a position to do this.
“In addition since our 2013 fares review, we’ve implemented more than 10 ticket promotions which gives customers the opportunity of enjoying further reductions.
“Our overall strategy is to increase the volumes of customers travelling with First. Freezing and reducing our fares complements our strategy and we hope will attract even more people on to our buses.”
Talking about the 10p increase to the Stage 3-5 Adult Single £2 ticket, Duncan Cameron added: “I’m pleased that we’ve been able to limit any increases to just one fare – and it’s a relatively small increase. The fares change applies to Stage 3-5 journeys only - all other single fares, including the stage1-2 £1.20 ticket and the Stage 6+ £2.50 ticket are frozen.”
The changes to fares come at a time when First Aberdeen has been working hard behind the scenes to encourage more people on to its services. This includes:
• In March 2014 First Aberdeen launched the ‘First Bus Mobile Tickets’ app which allows customers to buy bus tickets on-line and use their mobile phones as bus tickets.
• In November 2013, First revealed its Service 19 Platinum buses. First’s £300k investment was designed to improve almost every aspect associated with bus travel including: no quibble guarantee – free bus travel if customers are unhappy with any aspect of the service; improved customer service training for dedicated Platinum drivers; free wi-fi; leather seats; TV screens featuring 24 hour news; and refurbished interiors and exteriors.
• First invested £3.5million in 23 brand new buses in 2013. The new vehicles, which are fitted with leather seats and complementary wi-fi, entered service on July 1.
• First Aberdeen’s punctuality and reliability performance has never been better with 95% of all services leaving on time.
• In its last fares review (March 2013) First held in price or reduced the majority of its ticket types.
• The company has run a number of fares promotions on various routes within its network in 2013 and in October permanently reduced its Family Weekend Day ticket by 25%.
• The company is undertaking a fleet refresh programme which is improving the exterior of all its buses and the interiors of many of its buses. First’s Park and Ride fleet have been rebranded and refreshed.
• First launched a network wide ‘Customer Promise’ whereby passengers can claim a free travel voucher if they are unhappy with any aspect of the service (within First’s control).
• First Aberdeen has secured the services of eight regular customers to form a Customer Panel to provide mystery shopper evaluations on its bus services.
• In December 2013, following an independent customer satisfaction survey, First revealed that 87% of customers are either ‘quite satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with First’s services, a record for the company.
For a full list of changes to bus fares, please visit www.firstgroup.com/aberdeen.