17 April 2020
The Minister for Infrastructure has welcomed an announcement from LibertyBus to introduce transfer tickets on its services.
Deputy Kevin Lewis says the new ticket system will make journeys cheaper and more convenient for passengers who make trips that pass through Liberation Station or other interchange locations. A transfer ticket is where a passenger has to change buses to complete their journey, for example a trip from Gorey to the Airport. Currently, people travelling from one part of the Island to another would have to buy two tickets at full-price.
Under the new scheme, passengers requesting a transfer ticket will receive a ticket with an expiry time clearly displayed (within one hour of purchase) which the driver will accept, enabling them to complete their onward journey on a second bus. The savings an adult will make are set out in the table below:
| | PAYG (Avanchi Card) | Contactless (credit/debit/phone) | Cash |
| Adult 1 trip | £1.65 | £2.00 | £2.30 |
| Adult 2 trips | £3.30 | £4.00 | £4.60 |
| Adult transfer ticket | £3.00 | £3.50 | £4.00 |
| Saving | -£0.30 | -£0.50 | -£0.60 |
The Government was due to review the Island’s bus service this year and the merits of transfer tickets was to be part of that work. Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic this review is now expected to take longer than expected but LibertyBus has now decided to introduce transfer tickets.
The new transfer tickets are anticipated to be introduced when bus services return to a more normal timetable, when the lockdown restrictions are lifted, and Islanders begin to travel more regularly.
The Minister for Infrastructure, Deputy Kevin Lewis, said: "I am pleased to announce that LibertyBus will be introducing transfer tickets on buses in the near future. We are broadening the range of tickets being offered on the bus service as part of our commitment to investing in a better bus system, which more people will want to use, while supporting the Sustainable Transport Policy.
"Regular bus users who already make through-trips on the bus service will continue to be able to use their season tickets to make even bigger savings - unlimited travel passes start from £46 per month, meaning that someone using the service five days per week will only pay £2.12 per day for all their journeys, which is cheaper than the single cash fare.
"Implementing this new transfer ticket is part of our long-term strategy to enable us to accurately identify the number of through-journeys that Islanders are making. The data we will collect from through-fare journeys will feed into the comprehensive review of fares and ticketing that forms part of the Bus Service Development Plan."
Kevin Hart, Director for LibertyBus, said "We are looking forward to trialing the transfer ticket option when we are back to operating a normal service. We will be monitoring how often the ticket is used and whether it has an underlying impact on revenue."
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