What is the SKIPPER?
Plymouth City Council, in partnership with all of the city’s bus companies, have agreed to offer the residents of Plymouth a multi operator day bus ticket, which will enable them to make as many bus changes on their journey as they like, regardless of the bus operator, for a whole day (from the start of the service until 2am the following day).
This ticket will be known as a SKIPPER ticket, and will be available for sale fromMonday 4 November 2013.
Where can I buy the SKIPPER ticket?
You can purchase this ticket on the bus (only), from any of the participating bus operators, namely:
- First Devon and Cornwall
- Plymouth Citybus
- Western Greyhound
- Stagecoach Devon
- Target Travel
- Jackett’s Coaches
- Tally Ho
- St Budeaux Taxibus
Where can I travel with my SKIPPER ticket?
The area of validity for the Plymouth SKIPPER day ticket will include the whole of Plymouth including Torpoint, Saltash, Roborough, Langage, the built up areas of Ivybridge, Wembury and Heybrook Bay.
The southern boundary between Ivybridge and Deep Lane Junction will be the A38 and therefore include Lee Mill and Smithaleigh, and then include the area of Sherford down to the A379.
The northern boundary will include all communities served by the existing 59 route including the whole of Roborough.
How much will it cost and how long is it valid?
- £4 for an adult day ticket
- £3 for a child day ticket (up to and including 18 years)
The ticket is valid on all services, except those listed below, and is valid from the start of service until 2am the following day. The ticket is valid only for travel on journeys with a start point and an end point within the area of validity.
Local public transport services excluded from the specified services
The SKIPPER ticket is valid for travel on all local bus services provided by the participating operators within the area of validity, with the exceptions of:
- All football specials
- Any night services for which a premium fare is charged and which start journeys after 2am and before 5am
- Long distance coach services such as National Express and Megabus
- All sightseeing tour bus services
- Rail replacement services
Of course these prices are above what the individual operators are charging for their own tickets.
Plymouth Citybus adult day ticket is £3.60 for the zone 1&2
They make no mention of the Skipper ticket at all on their web site – or at least I cant see it!
First Devon & Cornwall have their own First Day at £3 for Plymouth Zone and again no mention of the Skipper.
No mention at all on Target Travel web site - but then I wouldn't expect much there anyway.
I cant see any mention of it on Stagecoach either – but then that is one of the worst web sites for finding anything on.
I guess it will take time for people to get to know the ticket and maybe it will take off – it is very useful to have a ticket you can use on all companies – there is nothing more annoying than letting buses go by when you are waiting for yours!
Busworld Photography: As well as an open staircase at the back these buses had what become known as a Piano front as the upper deck resembled an upright-piano.
Public Transport Experience: It was whilst glancing at the on-line map of the bus network for Annecy, France, that fbb espied something a little out of the ordinary
Certainly with what has recently been going on between Plymouth Citybus, First, Target Travel and Stagecoach, surely it is better “to make peace not war” I know sometimes this is not possible for the operators as under “de-regulation” they cannot be seen to be anti-competitive with all that, whatever that means? Behind the scenes Plymouth City Council have been doing some great work, to name just two things I am aware of, in April they funded a Sunday bus service for Wembury/Burrator and now this Skipper ticket. The First Plymouth plus zone day ticket is £4.50 so it is actually 50p cheaper (unless you want to travel to or from Yelverton and Tavistock) for some bus user’s e.g. from Wembury. I just hope that effective marketing is made of this ticket, as it could risk being withdrawn on the grounds of it not being popular with the general public. Also I hope all drivers have been made aware of this as it could prove difficult to use if not. I well remember when the FirstMonth Plymstock ticket came out, several drivers seemed to be unaware of its existence.
ReplyDeleteAt last! I now use a disabled person's pass but, before then, I used to travel in from Gunnislake on the train and buy a Plus Bus ticket which gave a day's multi-operator travel for £2, with, I think, a slightly tighter definition of 'Plymouth' than the Skipper. Oddly the ticket was not available from the conductor on the train - their machines had Cardiff Plusbus loaded in to them but not Plymouth. What they did was let me travel into Plymouth without a ticket and then buy a ticket from the booking office at Plymouth station.
ReplyDeleteI have just had a quick look at the PlusBus web-site and see it is now £3.20 and available only on First, Citybus and Western Greyhound - and, interetingly, refers to the station as Plymouth (North Road).
Keith
I'm not surprised many of the participating companies are slow to inform the public of such a ticket, it looks like rather a good deal! What with the current bus/fare war between First & Plymouth Citybus, this ticket will make even their reduced fares look rather expensive!
DeleteApparently first have not had the skipper ticket put on there machines yet?!
ReplyDeleteI had that problem when the FirstMonth Plymstock ticket was introduced a couple of years ago, when it cost £30. The driver could not find it on his machine so was unable to sell it to me. The next journey, the following day, a different driver found it very quickly on his machine and I have had no problems getting one since.
DeleteThis is great news. I was very annoyed a few months ago when I had to buy two dayrider tickets just for a trip to the doctor at Woolwell. Was a very expensive trip!
ReplyDeleteAll child fares reduced to half adult fare on First in Plymouth and West Devon areas... including new 3a. A Child Return from Cherry Tree for example is just 85p... this is brilliant. Can't believe people would still use rip off Citybus...considering all fares Adult and Child way cheaper with First.. Child day ticket now £2...Great deal. Just the ticket for families.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/devon_cornwall/travel_news/news_initiatives/?item=14231&conf=0