National Express West Midlands is cutting the price of peak day tickets from £4.60 to £4 when the Government removes all legal limits on social contact in June.
The price of a peak weekly ticket will also drop from £17.50 to £15 from the same day – rolling back to its 2012 price. The average commuter will save over £130 a year on bus travel, the firm says.
In addition, the company will bring in contactless weekly ticket price capping in June this year. This means customers will be able to travel as much as they like – they just show their contactless bank card (or the banking app on their phone) to the ticket machine each time they get on. At the end of seven days, they will be charged no more than the cost of a weekly ticket – however many journeys they made.
David Bradford, National Express West Midlands Managing Director, said: “We’re delighted to be cutting the price of bus tickets this summer to help get our region moving again.
“While most bills always go up, we’re doing the opposite. Half of bus customers will pay less than they do now, and nobody will pay more. These bus fare cuts mean travelling all day will cost less than the price of a burger.
“You will be able to catch as many buses as you like all day long and just wave a contactless card at the ticket machine. You don’t need to work out what’s the best price – we’ll do that automatically and you’ll never pay more than you need to.”
West Midlands Mayor Andy Street said: “National Express is part of the West Midlands Bus Alliance and one of the main deliverables of that is an agreement to keep fares low. In fact, we have worked together to ensure a fare freeze over the last four years, with the price of the day ticket at the same £4.60 price since 2017.
“Now, with this announcement, we believe we will have the cheapest bus fares in England – cutting costs for millions of people at a challenging time.”
