Bus fare costs

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AIBU in that the cost of bus fares are to high.

For context I took my 2 DDs to the cinema today as its half term here. And it cost me £18 return to do a 20 min round trip.
The bust cost more than the cinema tickets themselves.

My husband had the car for work so it wasn't an option to use it, I'm shocked as it wouldn't cost anywhere near that price in the car.

Bloody hell, for three of you?!

The government have introduced capped bus fares at £2 for a single, and I think £50p for kids accompanying an adult.
Is this not in place nationwide?

I agree that's a lot. Maybe price up a taxi next time, may work out cheaper for you.

That's London only.

I don't live in London! And my bus tickets say "government capped fayre"

It was £3 each one way, my DDs age 9 and 7 were the same price as me.

Capped round here is £3 a ticket, which is the same as OP is saying. There are normally season tickets/weekly passes which do very little if you're getting the bus as a one off!

So that's £3 there and £3 back, per person. For a 20 minute journey. Sounds ok to me.

Bus fares are capped at £3 for a single journey. So yes that's right. Would a day ticket/group ticket/return have been cheaper? Too late now mind you!

And to me, though I didn't realise children paid the same as adults.

Don't they have day tickets whee you live? Ours are capped at 2 pound but for more than 2 journeys it works out cheaper to get unlimited day ticket.

It's £3 now officially but not all routes are in it.

Lots of areas still do the £2 as well.

Bit of a postcode lottery it seems

That would be £10 return here. Adults are £3 a journey, under 18s £1 per journey.

It's scandalous really. But I don't know the solution.

I’m shocked you were able to cinema tickets for 3 fir under £18

Children travel for free don't they?

I don't know if they offer a day ticket, I wasn't offered anything, I will look into it for the future.

We only pay £3 a single or £2.80 for a short distance.

A day ticket is £7 for a large area

Did you buy two singles each? There are normally options for day/returns and sometimes even group/family tickets.

The bus driver wouldn't offer them to you - they don't know if you're planning to use the service again for example - you need to ask for what ticket you need.

Not here. Somerset

Our area dies a £5 day saver for adults £3 for kids so would have been £11

Yes fares have recently gone up.on the bus. They don't do returns either.
Annoying.

Wow that's pricey! Here in Scotland if you're under 22 you can get free bus travel as long as you have a pass, so my DCs are free.

Children here are 10p cheaper than adults. Annoyingly 11-21(I think) can get a card for further reduced fares. Why are 5 year olds paying more than an 18 year old?! So the 1.5 trip into town for me and my two infant school children is now £12 return, compared to £1.80 for parking. And last time my husband had to rescue us because the return bus didn't appear. I really do try to get the bus but can absolutely see why people don't bother.

Which bus company was it? If you asked for 3 singles then they probably assumed you were not doing a return journey so didn't offer you an alternative. Normally if you ask what's the best ticket for us they will advise you of options. Either that or many companies have apps which show all tickets so you can see the most suitable tickets.

It sounds like you chose the most expensive option and I'd be surprised if there wasn't a ticket choice that would have worked out much cheaper so I'd definitely investigate if you intend on using the bus again.

Depends where you live. It's £3 here or £1 after 7pm and Sunday. Next town along same but same local council it £2 in 1 direction and £3 in the other.

I've given up trying to workout day tickets. It's too complicated and I say that as someone with an MSc in stats.