A money saving fare cap has been introduced for Metro customers who travel on Pop Pay As You Go.
Nexus, the public body which owns and manages the Tyne and Wear Metro, has capped single journeys at £2, and at £4 for all-day travel, for pay as you go customers who travel with a Pop card or an Android smartphone with the Google Pay app installed.
The fare cap was introduced from today (January 2) and will run for the next three months. The £2 cap gives an adult with a Pop smartcard savings of up to 38% on a single journey, with an all-zone ticket currently costing £3.25.
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The daily cap on all-zone travel will come down by 85p, from £4.85 currently. The £2 cap will also apply to young people with a Pop 19-21 card and to bus services that are contracted by Nexus.
Nexus said that its offer was only being made on Pop, which is already cheaper than paper tickets, in order to "encourage further take up" and cut down on printing tickets costs.
The discounts will not apply to those buying paper tickets from Metro ticket machines.
Nexus say they have introduced the fare cap to help Metro customers with the cost of living, and match an equivalent offer on the local bus network, since the Government confirmed that all bus journeys in England would be capped at that level between January and March 2023.
Customer Services Director at Nexus, Huw Lewis, said: “By making the switch to Pop Pay As You Go our customers can make even bigger savings on the cost of Metro travel in 2023.
“The Pop card or the Google Pay app are by far the most cost-effective way to pay for travel on the Tyne and Wear Metro.
“From today all single journeys on pay as you go will be capped £2, and all day travel will be capped at £4.
“All you need to do is download the Google Pay app or apply for a Pop card to enjoy the benefits of the fare cap.
“We recommend that customers make the switch. Currently only one in five people are travelling with a Pop card, so are missing out on the savings which are on offer during these hard-pressed times.”
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