Bus passengers in the Vale will be facing a price hike from next month as bus fares are set to go up again.
Cardiff Bus said that increased costs have forced them to increase fares for the first time in four years – there will also be changes to fare zones and their boundaries.
The new prices and changes to the zones will come into place on Sunday 9th April, from then, the Barry fare zone will be extended to cover Dinas Powys, Sully and Wenvoe – and customers travelling between these areas and Cardiff will need to buy a ‘plus’ ticket for their journeys.
Adult single tickets in the Barry zone will now cost £2.50, which is a 31% increase from the current price which is £1.90 while ‘day to go’ fares rise to £4.50.
The Cardiff fare zone will cover all areas of the Welsh capital and Penarth between Cardiff Garden Centre in St Mellons, Culverhosue Cross, Eastbrook railway station and the Glamorgan golf club.
In the capital, Penarth and Llandough single fares for adults will now cost £2.20, which is a 10% increase and ‘day to go’ tickets will go up to £4.40 from £4.
Week-to-go tickets will cost £16 in the Cardiff fare zone and £15 in the Barry fare zone. An extra inner-city zone will also be introduced for shorter trips around the city centre.
In a statement, a Cardiff Bus spokesperson said: “This will be the first time any of our fares have changed in over four years. They were last changed in March 2019. In this time, we have seen costs increase to the level where we are now in a position that we have no option but to increase fares.”
Despite this price increase, we’re still confident that we offer good value for money with a variety of tickets including discounted bundles of single and day tickets on the app, which will be available for more fare zones from the 9th.
We have already take the opportunity to extend our flexible mobile tickets right across our network. These offer a single trip within Cardiff for as little as £1.80, or Barry for as little as £2.20. There are also deals on our day ticket bundles that we’ve also rolled out across our network.”
A local resident who travels every day in the Barry zone, Susan Walsh, said: “If you have a large family it is expensive. I don’t go into Cardiff that often because it costs me too much every time so it means I can’t see my granddaughter as much.”
Alan Storey who owns The Vinyl Frontier in Barry said: “There is a bus stop right outside our shop so we have had people coming in saying that they never heard of this place before so it does bring people in. The high street is dying though and it won’t be as convenient to get a bus especially if costs are rising.”