Bus fare increases to go ahead

Bus fares will rise from 1 October

Bus fare increases are to go ahead across Guernsey from the start of October, with a standard daytime journey fare rising by 25p.

However plans to start charging pensioners for earlier morning bus services have been scrapped, the government said.

The Committee for the Environment and Infrastructure (E&I) said it would maintain the free journeys before 09:30 after listening to feedback from the public.

Other "small" increases were being introduced "in order to offset the increased costs driven by inflation", a spokesperson said.

A standard daytime journey fare will rise from £1.25 to £1.50.

The raised fares will generate around £250,000 per year, which otherwise would need to be funded by taxpayers, the committee added.

The committee said it did not believe that would be appropriate given the pressure on public finances.

The proposal to start charging over 65s earlier in the mornings had been put forward to "help protect capacity on the buses at peak school and commuter times as passenger numbers continue to increase".

E&I president Deputy Lindsay de Sausmarez, said: “I’m reassured by the strength of feeling people have for our bus services, and by the growing numbers of passengers.

"More and more people are finding it’s a good, affordable and practical option."

She added: "We may still need to find ways of managing pressure on services at peak times in future as the bus passenger numbers continue to rise, but we’re not at that stage just yet."