A BUS firm in York is expanding its range of flexible tickets to give customers greater choice in planning cheaper travel over longer periods.

The changes to First York will come into effect from Monday October 10 - as the bus operator also introduces Tap On Tap Off (TOTO) payment technology on its vehicles.

A new return fare, currently only available to buy on the bus, will also appear alongside changes to certain prices on its city services. Existing Flexi tickets will be replaced with newly-named Day Bundles giving customers options available for unlimited travel in a day.

Pricing has been developed from analysis of passenger and purchasing data. The addition of more products in the Day Bundle range of tickets, first introduced in January, is further aimed at encouraging more people to use buses.

John Godfrey, head of marketing for First York, said: “We know that travel habits have changed significantly post-pandemic. Expanding our choice of flexible tickets will help to further meet the needs of people whose routines have altered and we firmly believe will appeal to our existing customers and attract new users.”

The TOTO contactless system guarantees customers ultimate flexibility on the fare paid. It charges for a single journey and customers who make several bus trips each day on First York services will pay the standard fare on the first day which then continues to reduce the more they travel during a week.

To use TOTO, a person uses their contactless card or mobile at the ticket machine next to the driver but must ‘tap’ again on the new special card reader device when leaving the bus.

Payment technology has been installed on First York’s fleet to create ‘London-style’ ticketing across the city and outlying communities.

Prices for the new range of five Return tickets start from £1.80 to £4.70 for the longest journeys with all giving a 10 per cent discount on the cost of two singles. All single fares are frozen.

Changes to existing fares include on-bus day tickets to rise by 20p, and the three-day and five-day tickets by 50p and 70p respectively. A week ticket on the app rises to £18 to match the price on the bus, which is unchanged.

The price changes represent a rise of four per cent or less, under half the latest rate of inflation, except increases on certain tickets which are still below the current level of inflation.

Mr Godfrey added: “Our business is not immune from the impact of inflation and rising business costs. We have looked carefully at how we can limit price increases for customers as much as possible."

The changes do not apply to student, young person, child, and Park and Ride fares.