• New student tickets, now available on a smartcard and mobile
• New tickets for U19 year olds when showing proof of age
• Revised ticket zones for West Fife and North East Fife
• Nightrider ticket price to rise to £3

­Stagecoach have announced revisions to the range of student tickets available on its network of services in the East of Scotland from Sunday 2 September 2018.

The student tickets offer significant discount, in some cases representing a 60% saving compared to the equivalent adult ticket available for travel within the same boundaries.

The range of student tickets will now be available in increments of 1 day, 7 days, 4 weeks or 13 weeks.  The 1 day and 7 day tickets will be available to buy on the free Stagecoach Bus mobile app, providing a quick and easy method of payment.  Longer period tickets are now available to buy online, with the ticket issued on a StagecoachSmart card, rather than a paper ticket.  StagecoachSmart provides improved security for the ticket, meaning a replacement can be issued at no cost if the card is lost throughout the term.  The change to StagecoachSmart means that paper tickets will no longer be available to buy from a local travel shop, so the company are urging students to buy online before they need to start the term.

Student tickets are now available for unlimited travel in the following zones:

• Dundee+ zone now covers travel in both the existing Dundee zone 1 and Dundee zone 2 areas
• East Scotland zone covers all services across Fife, Perthshire, Dundee and Angus and into Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow
• Fife+ zone covers travel across Fife, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, Forth Valley and to Edinburgh
• Perth+ now covers travel all existing Perth zones (1-3)
• St Andrews zone covers local travel within the town of St Andrews
• Tayside zone covers all services across Perthshire, Dundee and Angus
• West Fife zone is a new zone covering travel in the whole of West Fife

A new selection of tickets for young people will also be available from 2 September.  The tickets will be priced the same as the student tickets, and available for the same zone boundaries and ticket durations.

In the same way that students must show a student matriculation card to buy and use these discounted tickets, U19s will also be required to show proof of age when buying and using these tickets.  The company have suggested the use of a Young Scot card, which can be obtained free of charge via schools, educational establishments and other official outlets.

Douglas Robertson, Commercial Director, Stagecoach East Scotland said: “We’ve simplified the range of discounted tickets available to students and young people, creating one simple price structure for both, increasing the boundary sizes for many of our travel zones to provide even better value for these passenger groups.  The tickets are now more flexible too, from offering a ticket for one off travel, available from the driver or on our app, to a longer period 13 week ticket, available to buy online, ideal for a parent to buy their child at the start of a school or college/university term, providing them with unlimited travel every day.”

Stagecoach have also revised two ticket zones in Fife from 2 September, which affects all ticket types – including adult dayrider and megarider tickets.  The Dunfermline+ zone has been extended and renamed to West Fife, now also covering travel to/from Kincardine, Ballingry and Aberdour for no extra cost. The St Andrews+ zone is also extended significantly further to cover the whole of North East Fife, (and renamed North East Fife zone), offering travel between St Andrews and Cupar, as well as along the East Neuk.  Prices for these tickets will be revised at this time too.

Mr Robertson added: “We’ve had numerous requests for a discounted travel ticket between Cupar and St Andrews, so expanding the existing St Andrews+ ticket, which is not well used at present, is an opportunity to create this link as well as providing a cheaper option for travel along the East Neuk.”

Stagecoach have also confirmed a price increase to the nightrider ticket, to £3.  The ticket was launched last year as a driver to encourage use of evening bus services within local communities, in order to bring more people into town centres to utilise local facilities.  The nightrider ticket offers unlimited travel throughout Fife, Perthshire, Dundee and Angus after 7pm each day, and continues to connect people to the many local restaurants, bars, entertainment venues, or to evening work locations for a low fare.

Full information on the ticket revisions is available via the service update section of stagecoachbus.com (https://www.stagecoachbus.com/service-updates/serviceupdatesarticle?SituationId=ID-15/08/2018-11:18:03:281).  All new 7 day, 4 week and 13 week tickets will be available to buy online at stagecoachbus.com from 2 September.