Tens of thousands of Tyne and Wear Metro passengers are missing out on cheaper tickets, almost a month after a big hike in fare prices.
The cost of single and daysaver paper tickets jumped by up to 9.5% on April 1, with transport bosses desperate to boost income after a devastating couple of years during the pandemic. However, that blow was somewhat softened by an offer to freeze prices for passengers who travel using a Pop Pay As You Go (PAYG) smartcard or a digital Pop card, which is only available on Android phones.
That means that the cost of a ticket on a Pop card is now up to 85p cheaper than a paper ticket, so regular Metro users could save themselves more than £200 by the time of the next fare change in March 2023. But Nexus chiefs have confirmed that a heavy majority of people across the network are still using the more expensive option from stations’ ticket machines.
