Background

The Council wishes to see new ticketing initiatives introduced with the aim of speeding up boarding times and improving the ease of use of public transport. The Transport Act 2000 gave local authorities new powers to introduce certain types of ticket on a statutory basis. These powers enable the Council to introduce the following ticket types:

• Multi Operator Travelcards, including the services of all operators within a defined area.
• Through Tickets, between defined points regardless of operator.
• Inter-available Tickets (e.g. Multi-operator Return Tickets)
• Add-on Tickets, unlimited travel within a defined area at a fixed cost as an add-on to a longer feeder journey.

The Council does not have the ability to set and influence the price of these tickets as this is limited by competition legislation.

Following initial consultation and a review of correspondence relating to fares and ticketing, a consultants' report recommended that some ticketing initiatives be put out to public consultation, with a view to establishing some pilot schemes.