With the national single fare cap increasing from £2 to £3 from 1 January, Reading Buses have announced that they are splitting the difference on the single fare within Reading, and have confirmed that it will still be possible to travel for less than £2 per journey using other tickets.
The maximum adult single fare within Reading on the Reading Buses app, and when using tap on tap off, will be £2.50. For customers paying the driver, the single fare will be £2.60 when using cash or by contactless. The maximum single fare for young people will be £2.00 on the app, or £2.20 from the driver.
No other fares will change – the Reading All-Bus day ticket will continue to be priced at £4.00 for unlimited journeys using tap on tap off, or when purchased on the app, and £4.50 when purchased from the driver. Short hop fares are currently less than £2 and will continue unchanged.
Reading Buses say that customers can already beat the fare cap of £2 within Reading using their flexible ticketing options. The Reading Buses app sells easysaver10, daysaver5, and 7 day tickets for £17.50. That’s 10 single tickets, 5 day tickets, or a 7 day ticket, which work out at £1.75 or less per journey. Longer term season tickets provide even greater value, and there are discounts for young people.
For regular travellers and commuters, the simplyReading 7 day ticket gives seven consecutive days unlimited travel in Reading. There are longer term options that offer even greater discounts too.
For less frequent travellers, easysaver10 gives 10 single journeys that can be used whenever they are needed.
There’s also daysaver5 for people who don’t travel every day but might make more than 2 journeys in a day. Daysaver5 offers five day tickets as a bundle, that can be used whenever they are needed.
Said Robert Williams, Reading Buses Chief Executive Officer; “Within Reading, we will be splitting the difference between the old £2 and new £3 fare cap, by keeping the adult single fare at £2.50 on our app and when using tap on, tap off.”
“We realise that the government £2 cap has allowed many customers in Reading to avoid the impact of inflation and given longer distance travellers a very attractive fare. Some of our other ticket options will continue to provide amazing value for money.”
Robert continued; “For journeys outside of Reading, many fares will be less than £3 but any that would normally be more will be capped at £3 each way, or £6 return. This is a great deal for our customers – especially on routes such as jet black between Reading and Newbury, the lion between Reading, Wokingham and Bracknell, and The London Line between Windsor, Slough, and London, all of which now feature new high specification double deck buses.”
Robert also wanted to remind customers about remembering to tap off if using tap on, tap off payments. “If you are using tap on, tap off, please remember to tap off when you leave the bus. If you don’t, you may be charged to the end of the route. This is especially important on our longer distance routes like jet black 1, lime 2/2a, leopard 3, lion 4/4a, pink 25 and aqua 28.”
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