THE cost of using York's Park & Ride service is going up.

City of York Council and First York announced today that a standard return is to increase in price from £2.90 to £3.10 from this Sunday.

But fare changes will also impact customers who purchase weekly, monthly and annual tickets, while new discounted tickets will be introduced for under 18s.

The Park & Ride partnership said it had increased fares due to the increased costs of running and improving the Park & Ride network, which consists of 38 buses and six sites and carries over four million passengers a year.

The new Park & Ride fares are:

* Standard Return increases from £2.90 to £3.10 

*Concessionary Return increases from £1 to £1.10 (the first rise since 2015)

* Weekly smart tickets will increase from £11.60 to £12.40

*Monthly smart tickets will increase from £46.40 to £49

* Annual smart tickets will increase from £464 to £490 There are new discounted tickets for children and young people aged 18 or under

*Child return £1.60

*Young person’s return £3 (although 16-18 year olds with a YOzone card can buy a First young person’s day ticket for £2.30)

However, up to three children, aged 16 and under, can now travel for free with any full-fare adult return or concessionary ticket, compared with up to two children at present.

Cllr Ian Gillies, executive member for transport, said: “York’s Park & Ride service is one of the city’s big success stories. It is vastly reducing congestion and improving air quality while providing a high quality service to millions of passenger journeys every year.

“It is never an easy decision to increase fares, but we believe these are a fair reflection of the increased investment required to continue Park & Ride’s success story.

“It remains great value, with a daily commuter paying as little as £2.11 a day with the annual card.”

Marc Bichtemann, managing director for First York, adds: “We remain committed to working in partnership with City of York Council to deliver a value for money and reliable Park & Ride service for visitors and commuters traveling into York.

“The Park & Ride offer will benefit from further investment in the next 12 months, which includes the introduction of more electric vehicles and improvements to the car parks.

“We’ve also recently introduced contactless payments alongside our success with mobile ticketing, which further demonstrates our commitment to make bus travel a convenient, simple and attractive experience for our customers.”

A spokeswoman said the council and First York were also reminding customers to check that they are making the most of savings available through different ticket options, saying regular commuters could pay as little as £2.11 per day with an annual permit, £2.45 per day with a monthly and £2.48 with a weekly ticket.

For details of all available Park & Ride tickets, visit www.itravelyork.info/park-and-ride/fares-and-passes For more information on the York by bus smartcard, visit www.itravelyork.info/smart