First Bus fares rise: Is Glasgow the dearest city?

The city’s largest bus operator informed customers this week it was raising the cost of certain tickets from August 4.

After the announcement, passengers reacted angrily with some questioning the need for the rise complaining fares were already too high.

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The Glasgow Times checked out prices with several other comparable UK cities and found for daily travel and a weekly ticket it was more expensive than most others.

First Glasgow said bus travel offers “fantastic value” and rising costs have meant fares had to go up.

(Image: First)

We looked at nine other cities in Scotland, England and Wales with similar populations.

A two-trip ticket ticket in Glasgow will cost £5.20 after the rise and a First Day ticket will stay at £5.60.

Of the cities we looked at Glasgow was more expensive than all of them.

For a weekly ticket, First Glasgow was dearer than eight of the others.

In Edinburgh, publicly owned Lothian Buses costs £5 a day and £22 a week.

In Aberdeen a two-trip ticket on First Bus is £4.70, while the day ticket is £5.30.

A weekly ticket will cost £21.

READ NEXT: Furious Glaswegians hit out as First Bus hike ticket prices

In Dundee, on Xplore buses, a day ticket is £4.40 and a weekly pass costs £16.

Across large English cities outside London passengers are getting on the bus for less.

In Liverpool an all-day travel ticket is £5.50, 10p cheaper and the cost of two journeys is also cheaper than Glasgow as travel across the Liverpool region with Mersey Travel is capped at £2 per journey making it £1.20 cheaper than Glasgow.

A weekly ticket in Liverpool is £22, which is 50p cheaper than First Glasgow’s new fare.

Similarly in Manchester, where the Bee network caps fares at £2 per journey.

A one-day Bee Anybus ticket is £5 and a weekly pass costs £21.

In Leeds in Yorkshire, a day travel ticket costs £4.75.

However, the cost of weekly travel is more expensive in Leeds at £24.

Elsewhere, in all the cities we looked at, bus travel was cheaper.

Birmingham single fares are capped at £2 until the end of the year and a day ticket costs £4.80.

A weekly ticket will cost £18 on NX West Midlands.

Sheffield Citybus ticket for one day is £4.70 and a weekly pass is £17.

First in Sheffield costs £5.20 a day and £17.90 for the week.

In Cardiff, capital of Wales, all day travel on CardiffBus costs £4.70 and £17 buys a weekly ticket.

First Glasgow said it is difficult to compare fares in difference cities as conditions are different in each and fares have been frozen for the last 16 months.

(Image: First)

Duncan Cameron, First Bus Scotland Managing Director: “As with any business, we have felt the impact of rising inflation while running costs continue to increase. This includes rising fuel, parts, and labour prices as well as the energy costs to charge our electric fleets and power our depots.

“Bus travel in Glasgow continues to offer fantastic value for money for customers with the average cost per trip made on First Bus in the city £1.92. With this being below £2 per trip, it showcases the benefits customers can receive by choosing bus.”

First said fares in the city compare favourably and the cost of running the service is impacted by external factors like congestion.

Mr Cameron added: “Congestion in Glasgow remains the biggest factor impacting fares as it continues to drive increases in the cost of operating our bus timetable.

“By increasing bus priority measures and removing the bus from congestion in the city, it will make journey speeds faster for customers while reducing that cost of operation, those savings can then be reinvested in more services or other benefits directly for our customers.

“We believe fares in Glasgow compare favourably to cities of a similar size. Cities with greater bus priority, such as Edinburgh and Birmingham, highlight what can be achieved by improving bus journey speeds.”