Bus fares in Leeds are set to rise from August 1 after First announced changes to its pricing policy for weekly and daily passes.
An announcement on First's website reveals that the cost of a FirstDay peak-time pass for West Yorkshire will rise by 30p to £4.30; FirstWeek passes for Leeds's green zone are going up £2 to £12; countywide FirstWeek tickets increase 50p to £18.50 and an off-peak Leeds day pass will go up by 20p to £3.40.
Richard Harris, Commercial Director for First in West Yorkshire said ina statement:
"Over the past 15 months, First has worked hard to keep its fares down and our fares have not risen in this time.
"During this time we have faced an economic backdrop of rising costs to the business in areas such as pensions, as well as administration costs such as insurance and utility prices.
"We have now reached the point that we have had to look at changing some of our fares to ensure our business can meet these rising costs."
The announcement has already led to a debate by concerned bus passengers on microblogging site Twitter, which you can follow by searching for #leedsdebate.
The debate, started by @mylifeinleeds, asks what people think about the bus service in Leeds.
Bakelady59 tweeted: "I use the train to Leeds, 50% cheaper & 4 x faster than local bus."
Catnamedeaster added: "If I'm going into town twice in a day it's now cheaper to buy two train returns than a bus day pass."
What do you think? Either comment on Twitter or post your comment in the section below.
