Short Metro fares rise as longer journeys capped
North East Combined AuthorityTyne and Wear Metro passengers are set to pay more for shorter journeys, but a cap on prices will see the cost of longer trips fall.
Plans put forward by North East Mayor Kim McGuinness will see tickets priced at a flat rate of £2.50 for multi-zone journeys and the introduction of a £5 daily cap.
But a single-zone journey will increase by 20p to £2.20, while some return trips will also cost more.
Labour's McGuinness said the pricing shake-up - set to be approved by the North East Combined Authority next week and only available to those using a Pop Card - had been designed to get more people using the network.
"I want everyone in the North East to be able to use public transport so we need to make it cheaper," she said.
"That's why I'm bringing the Mayor's Fares to Metro, capping single tickets at £2.50 no matter how many zones you travel."
Paper tickets rise
Under the changes, those taking a single journey across two zones will see their fares decrease by 40p but a return journey will cost 80p more than the current £4.20 cap.
A single journey across three zones will cost £1.10 less, while a return journey will save 20p.
Those travelling across all four zones will save £1.30 on a single ticket and £1.20 on a return trip.
Paper tickets are set to increase in price, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
A one-zone single ticket will increase from £3 to £3.20, two-zone from £4 to £4.30, and an all-zone ticket will increase from £4.70 to £5.10.
Day tickets will also go up in price across all zones, while season tickets are to rise by an average of 4.6%.
However fares for young people, including season tickets, will be frozen at current rates "to encourage the take up of public transport".
The fare changes will cost the mayor's office about £1m to subsidise for a year.
NexusJohn Fenwick, finance director of Metro operator Nexus, said: "These proposed changes aim to keep Metro affordable, encourage smartcard adoption and support people with the rising cost-of-living.
"Other fares, including paper and season tickets, need to increase to help us address the challenges of higher operational costs.
"However, we feel that we have put forward a balanced set of fare proposals."
