Stagecoach cuts the cost for youngsters

Thousands of young people across Devon are to benefit from a new offer by Stagecoach South West that will help cut the cost of their bus travel.

For a 5 week period (23 January to 29 February 2016) the bus company will slash the cost of existing child Dayrider tickets in Exeter, Plymouth and Dartmouth to just £2 whilst also introducing new £2 child Dayriders for their Exmouth, Newton Abbot and Barnstaple ticket zones.

The offer – open to anyone aged under 19 – aims to further reduce the cost of travel for young people and their families at what can be a difficult time of year financially. Stagecoach South West hopes it will also encourage as many young people as possible to use its bus network that delivers affordable, reliable and high quality services for thousands of customers across Devon every day.

The special tickets offer substantial discounts when compared to current Dayrider ticket prices and build on the existing offers Stagecoach South West has in place for young people across the region. These include Termrider season tickets that provide unlimited travel for anyone under 19 and in full time education, Uniriders for Exeter and Plymouth University students and the popular £1 child add on available when children are accompanying a fare paying adult.

In particular, young people who use bus services to travel to job interviews, appointments and part-time employment will benefit from the offer.

Stagecoach South West Managing Director Bob Dennison said: “This is great news for young bus users across the Devon. Buses are crucial in connecting young people and, in particular, helping them to access education and employment opportunities and to get to get out and about independently across half term week.

“We know family budgets can often be stretched following the Christmas holidays so we are pleased to be able to help people make their money go further by reducing the cost of travel.

“We are already providing very good value discounts for children, students and young people across the region. This makes taking the bus even better value for money and we hope lots of young people will take advantage of the offer.”

The tickets will be available to purchase in cash from the driver on board the bus. Full details can be found here: www.stagecoachbus.com.

Stagecoach South West has invested more than £20m over the past 4 years in dozens of new buses for local communities.

Stagecoach is also making a multi-million pound investment in new technology. The company recently launched a new, fully mobile, UK Bus website which lets customers check live running times for their services and buy travel from their smartphone.

Stagecoach also previously launched the country’s first long-term nationwide discount for jobseekers, giving those with a JobCentre Plus travel card a 50% discount on their bus travel to help them find employment. The offer has been taken up by over 350,000 job seekers since it was launched in 2012. The scheme is funded entirely on a commercial basis by Stagecoach without any public sector support.