First West Lothian is to cut its fares on a range of bus tickets from Sunday, 15 March. Residents are set to save up to £240 on an annual ticket and £6 a week on weekly ticket.

Thousands of bus users across West Lothian will see the price of their tickets either reduce or freeze when the changes come into effect. Customers who purchase some of the most popular ticket types will enjoy substantial savings. For those travelling within West Lothian (Zones L + M), the main highlights are:

• Adult annual ticket reduced by £240 (from £820 to £580)
• Adult 4-weekly ticket reduced by £27 (from £82 to £55)
• Student 4-weekly ticket reduced by £27.10 (from £74.10 to £47)
• Adult weekly ticket reduced by £6 (from £24 to £18)
• First Unlimited ticket reduced by £21.70 per month (from £68.40 to £46.70)
• Family Day Tickets reduced by £4.50 (from £14 to £9.50)

Prices have also fallen for those travelling locally in the Edinburgh or Livingston zones. For example:

• Family Day Tickets reduced by £2.50 (from £12 to £9.50)
• Adult annual ticket reduced by £50 (from £630 to £580)
• First Unlimited ticket reduced by £21.70 per month (from £68.40 to £46.70)

Graeme Macfarlan, Commercial Director for First Scotland East, said: “From 15^th March, travel by First West Lothian will be better value than ever before. As well as rewarding our loyal customers, we are keen to encourage more people to opt for leaving their car at home. These price drops reflect our commitment to residents in West Lothian, for whom cost effective public transport is a vital part of everyday life. We are putting them first with this decision.”

The region’s largest bus operator is also simplifying its fare structure. The change will see all Adult Single fares start from just £1.70 and Child singles from just 90p. All weekly, monthly and annual tickets will now also have the same price for 2-zone travel in West Lothian as it is for one. This means customers can now enjoy unlimited travel to and from Edinburgh for the same price as their local travel ticket in and around Livingston.

Graeme McFarlan added: “Simplifying our fare structure is an important step. We were particularly keen to make two-zone travel more appealing, and better value. Given you can now travel in two zones for the price of one, it has never been easier to travel with the bus in West Lothian.”

First West Lothian confirmed it has seen a significant rise in ‘smart’ payments in recent months, with over 65 per cent of customers now using cashless payments.

Graeme McFarlan said: “More and more people want to pay using smart devices, or in advance. We are responding to customer demand by offering further savings and incentives to those  purchasing tickets via the First Bus app and continue to  invest heavily in technology.”

The local bus operator, who has served the people of West Lothian for over 100 years, has further invested  in service improvements programmes and introduced new state-of-the-art ticket machines, enabling customers to pay for their bus tickets in new ways, including via contactless, smart and mTicket.

For full details on full range of tickets available, please visit: www.firstscotlandeast.com