The local media have made the most of the opportunity to run a negative story about buses. This is from This Is The Westcountry:
Amongst the changes are a price rise of the adult FirstDay Cornwall from £7.20 to £10.00. That makes it the same price as Ride Cornwall, which also allows you to travel on Western Greyhound and the trains, although not before 9am on weekdays.
But there's no mention in First's press release about the FirstDay SouthWest, which is currently £7.60. Or is that £7.30? Or £8.00?
FirstDay SouthWest on First Devon & Cornwall's website. Yellow highlights are mine.
Either way, if still on offer from 5th January, it will be cheaper than a FirstDay Cornwall, making that ticket pointless.
Good for tourists will be new 2 and 3 day First Cornwall tickets, priced at £15 and £20 respectively.
Regular passengers will end up paying a lot more in return for their loyalty with the withdrawal of the current 6-month and annual Devon & Cornwall tickets. Those using the 6-month ticket at £440 will now have to buy 6 separate FirstMonth Cornwall tickets totalling £600, an increase of 36%. Those using the current annual ticket at £810 will have to buy 12 separate FirstMonth tickets totalling £1200, that's an increase of 48%. While usage of those tickets may be fairly low, for those who do rely on the bus all year round in Cornwall, that is some increase indeed.
Yes, but it is not helped by the paltry amount that ALL operators receive from Cornwall Council for accepting concessionary cards, for both 60+ and disabled passengers.
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