Bus fares for travellers in the Burnham-On-Sea area have this week been increased by First Bus as the firm deals with ‘increasing pressures’ on its finances.
Adult single and return tickets have increased by between 10 and 55 pence, while child single and return fares have risen by between 5 and 55 pence.
Jenny MacLeod, General Manager for First Buses in Somerset, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “Over recent years there has been increasing pressure on our business as we contend with rising fuel costs and reductions in the level and type of funding we are able to access from other sources.”
“The expected reduction from April 2012 in the Bus Service Operators Grant, which partly refunds some of the excise duty we pay on the fuel we buy and which has historically been in place as a subsidy for fare-paying passengers, means we must also act now to mitigate the impact of that change on our business as a whole.”
“We have kept the increases as small as we have been able to, and where possible have frozen some of the most popular fares.
“We understand that this will not be welcome news, but we need to revise some of our fares to ensure that they adequately cover the costs we face in operating buses in this part of the world.”
