Thousands of Tyne and Wear Metro commuters are deprived of cheap tickets almost a month after the steep hike in fare prices.
The cost of single and deserving paper tickets soared up to 9.5% on 1 April, with transport owners desperate to boost income after a devastating few years during the pandemic. However, that blow was softened somewhat by a proposal to freeze prices for passengers traveling using the Pop Pay As You Go (PAYG) smartcard or digital Pop card, which is available only on Android phones. .
This means that the price of a ticket on a Pop card is now up to 85p cheaper than on a paper ticket, so regular Metro users could save themselves over £200 by the time of the next fare change in March 2023. But Nexus chiefs have confirmed that most people in the network are still using the more expensive options from the stations’ ticket machines.
Read more: Metro ticket fare hiked – what it means for you and how to avoid price hike
83% of adult passenger journeys are made using paper tickets, something that Nexus wants to cut down on its printing costs as well. And while not everyone will be able to benefit from the pop price freeze, which doesn’t apply to weekly or monthly passes for example, thousands are still paying more than they need.
Single tickets now cost up to £3.90 in their paper form, but capped at a maximum of £3.25 on a pop card, while the PAYG Deceiver cap is £4.85 compared to a £5.70 all-zone Deceever ticket. All single tickets on a pop card are 65p cheaper and full day tickets are 85p cheaper, the same savings apply to Shields Ferry.
Tyne & Wear Metro Pop Card on Google Pay (Image: Nexus)
If you have an Android phone, you can order a physical POP card online for free by clicking here or by getting a digital version through Google Pay. Hugh Lewis, Nexus Director of Customer Service, said: “We’ve seen the number of people using Pop on Android or Pay As You Go smart cards increase from 14% of our day to 17% since the end of March.
“That’s almost 20,000 new trips made with Pop, and our customers have saved money on every single trip. We’ve already seen over 800 people search for Pop on Android and we expect that to happen as we go. Word will get out, this number will continue to grow.
“Our message is simple: Pop Pay As You Go will remain stable in value until at least March 2023. As the cost of living rises, we promise you can pay for a year for the subway for a year and not a penny more. And in that time you can easily save £200 by switching to a Pop Today, plus find it a quick and easy way to pay for travel.
“We expect many more Metro customers to pop the money-saving switch in the coming weeks and months. We have launched a marketing campaign in thousands of homes around metro stations to let people know how to make money. can save.
