Hampshire Budget Cut Consultation

Hampshire County Council (HCC) have launched a 'Future Services' consultation on the future of public services in order to reduce money, including public transport, to meet a £132 million budget shortfall by April 2025. The consultation is open now and runs until Sunday 31st March. There are several types of council-funded public transport services in …

Route 64 free travel and refreshed buses

We previously reported that, as part of the post-Easter service changes, Stagecoach's route 64 between Alton and Winchester via Four Marks, Ropley and New Alresford was to see its Sunday service doubled from hourly, resulting in the route enjoying a half-hourly daytime frequency seven days a week. This is quite the service boost from the …

£2 cap operator and route exclusions

UPDATE: The scheme has now been extended for a further three months through April and May to Friday 30th June 2023, with all but one of the below operators now confirmed to be continuing to participate (Mole Valley Connect DRT still unable to confirm despite just one day to go…). Operators who didn't take part …

£2 bus fare cap operators (partially!) announced

The government has this morning published a list of bus operators who will be taking part in the upcoming scheme that caps single bus fares in England (outside of London) at a maximum price of £2 per journey between 1st January and 31st March. Such a list is necessary because participation by operators is voluntary …

2022 Surrey Tender Results & Service Changes

As reported in our blog post of Tuesday 26th July, full or part operation of 25 individual routes spread over 20 contracts had been put out for tender by Surrey County Council and the bids received. All contracts commence Sunday 28th August, however with the Monday being a Bank Holiday then routes that don't operate …

Another Acorn adventure, but in a post-COVID world

Blog reader 'Porte Molitor' has previously shared three trip reports that have detailed their experiences of using the Surrey County Council 'Acorn' ticket, and has now sent me a fourth instalment. The Acorn scheme was launched in 2018 following the splitting up of Abellio Surrey's network in December 2016 and September 2017, following them giving …

Stagecoach fare changes

From tomorrow, many period and return fares on Stagecoach services will be increased for both online/mobile app and on-bus buyers.. Single fares, MegaRider Xtra and University of Surrey StudentRider tickets are unchanged though, while Woking 7-day MegaRiders appear to be reduced. A new range of 'Flexi' tickets is also being introduced, while the current 13-week …

Oyster Match to match, Sunday Safeguard to the Surrey, and the Tiger may yet roar again

The concept of 'Oyster Match' was introduced by Abellio Surrey on sections of routes that ran alongside Transport for London (TfL) corridors, allowing passengers making single journeys between certain points to pay a cheaper cash single fare that matched that of TfL's Oyster Card users. All passengers needed to do to be eligible for the …

Falcon 479 timetable and Stagecoach fares info released

This blog post covers the latest developments in the replacement of Arriva's Guildford and Woking area services after next month's closure of their Guildford depot and withdrawal from the area. We look at the release of maps and ticket information for Stagecoach's services, the news they will also be taking on the single weekday morning …

Surrey to invest while Heathrow withdraw

This week saw Surrey County Council (SCC) announce the Surrey Ultra Low & Zero Emission scheme, which will see £49 million allocated to help fund up to 80 ultra low or zero emission buses for the main public network (£32.3m) and 50 minibuses for community transport operations (£6.3m). The 130 vehicles are expected to be …