Changes to fares and tickets in Kent from 1st January 2025

From Wednesday 1st January we’re making some changes to our fares and tickets in Kent.

The Government has announced there will be a new £3 single fare cap in England. This means single fares that were previously capped at £2 will increase, but you’ll never pay more than £3 for a single ride, no matter how far you travel.*

From the same date, return tickets will no longer be available. In most cases, two single tickets will offer the best value if you’re making a return trip, or a DayRider ticket will give you great value unlimited travel for the whole day.

DayRider and MegaRider ticket prices will increase, and we’re introducing Flexi DayRider ticket bundles for the under 19s.

Family DayRider tickets will be replaced with new Group DayRider tickets offering even better value for up to five people travelling together.

There’ll be changes to some ticket zones affecting the Dover and Deal, and Canterbury, Herne Bay and Whitstable.

You can find the full details and FAQs below.

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	Single tickets will be capped at a maximum of £3 as part of the Government’s national bus fare cap scheme. There will be no price changes to single tickets under £2, but some fares that have been capped at £2 will increase up to £3. That means, for adults, a short-hop journey will be £1.80, a medium-length journey will be £2.60, and longer-distance single journeys will be capped at £3 no matter how far you travel.* Child single tickets will be available at £1.10 (short hop), £1.60 (shorter-length), £2.10 (mid-length), £2.50 (longer-length), and no more than £3 for longer-distance journeys. *Some Council operated bus services are excluded from the Government £3 single fare cap. These include Park & Ride services and local bus routes 113 and 125 in the Ashford area.
	Return tickets will no longer be available. In most cases, two single tickets will offer the best value if you’re making a return trip. Or, if you’re travelling in a local zone, a DayRider ticket will give you great value unlimited travel for the whole day. And you can save more with a Flexi bundle of DayRider tickets – please see below.
	Child returns will no longer be available, but buying a child single ticket each way will usually offer the best value option for a return trip. Alternatively, you can get a DayRider U19 that gives unlimited travel for just £4.50 in a local travel zone. Or, to save even more, we’re introducing new Flexi ticket bundles for under 19s - which means you can buy 5 DayRider U19 tickets for the price of 4 and use them whenever you want. That works out at just £3.60 per day for unlimited local travel. And it gets even better. With a Flexi10 you can buy 10 local DayRider U19 tickets for the price of 7! That’s just £3.15 per day. Flexi ticket bundles are only available on the Stagecoach Bus App.
	Exactly what it says – kids travel for just £1 when accompanied by an adult ticket or pass holder. From 1st January a kid-for-a-quid ticket will only be valid for one single bus journey. If you're travelling with more than one child you can buy up to a maximum of four kid-for-a-quid tickets, that's just £4 for four kids! Children must be always accompanied by the adult ticket holder when travelling.
	DayRider tickets will increase in price. For adults a local zone DayRider will cost £6.00 and a South East regional DayRider will cost £9.50. A DayRider offers great value unlimited travel on any Stagecoach bus for the entire day – so you can travel as much as you like. If you purchase a Swale PLUS DayRider ticket (covering Stagecoach and Chalkwell services in the Maidstone, Sheppey, Sittingbourne and Faversham area), the price will increase to £7.60 for an adult DayRider and £5.70 for a DayRider U19.
	If you’re 18 years or younger, you can get a DayRider U19. From 1st January a local DayRider U19 will cost £4.50 and a South East regional DayRider U19 will cost £7.20. NEW for 2025 – we’re introducing Flexi bundles of DayRider U19 tickets so you can travel as much as you want for as little as £3.15 per day. Find out more below.
	Flexi tickets are bundles of 5 or 10 DayRider tickets. Flexi5 gives you 5 DayRider tickets for the price of 4. Flexi10 is 10 DayRider tickets for the price of 7. Flexi tickets will increase in price in line with the increase in the price of DayRider tickets. From 1st January we’re introducing new Flexi ticket bundles for under 19s. A Flexi5 U19 works out at just £3.60 per day for unlimited travel in a local zone if you’re aged 18 or younger. And it gets even better. With a Flexi10 U19 you can buy 10 local DayRider U19 tickets for the price of 7! That’s just £3.15 per day. South East regional Flexi U19 bundles are available too. Flexi ticket bundles are only available on the Stagecoach Bus App.
	Family DayRider tickets will be replaced with new Group DayRider tickets. A Group DayRider is valid for up to 5 people, of any age, travelling together. There will be local zone Group DayRider tickets at £16.50, and a South East regional Group DayRider ticket at £26.00. These tickets will offer a much better value option if 3 or more people are travelling together, compared to buying individual DayRider tickets.
	The South East EveningRider is valid for unlimited travel anywhere on the Stagecoach South East bus network after 6pm until the last bus home. From 1st January the price will be £4.50. NEW for 2025 – A South East Group EveningRider ticket will be available for groups of up to 5 people of any age, travelling together. At £12.00 this ticket offers exceptional value if 3 or more people are travelling together, compared to buying individual EveningRider tickets.
	MegaRider tickets will increase in price. A local zone 7 Day MegaRider will cost £23.40 A South East regional 7 Day MegaRider will cost £37.00 A MegaRider ticket will still offer great value for regular travel. With unlimited use on any Stagecoach bus in your area for 7 days in a row - the more you travel, the more you save! If you purchase a Swale PLUS MegaRider ticket (covering Stagecoach and Chalkwell services in the Maidstone, Sheppey, Sittingbourne and Faversham area), the price will increase to £28.40 for a 7 Day MegaRider.
	A local zone 28 Day MegaRider will cost £79.60 A South East regional 28 Day MegaRider will cost £125.80 28 Day MegaRider tickets offer great savings for regular travel. Even if you’re only using the bus 5 days per week, you can save at least 33% compared to buying DayRiders or single tickets in a local zone. If you purchase a Swale PLUS MegaRider ticket (covering Stagecoach and Chalkwell services in the Maidstone, Sheppey, Sittingbourne and Faversham area), the price will increase to £99.10 for a 28 Day MegaRider.
	MegaRider Xtra tickets will also increase in price. However, for existing customers this price increase won’t take effect until 31st January 2025. A local zone MegaRider Xtra will cost £73.10 A South East regional MegaRider Xtra will cost £118.90 MegaRider Xtra lets you set-up automatic monthly payments to give you non-stop unlimited travel on all our buses, either in a local zone or across the South East. If you purchase a Swale PLUS MegaRider Xtra ticket (covering Stagecoach and Chalkwell services in the Maidstone, Sheppey, Sittingbourne and Faversham area), the price will increase to £92.70 from 31 January.
	From 1st January there will no longer be a Dover & Deal travel zone. That means that Dover & Deal DayRider and MegaRider tickets will no longer be available. If you travel across this area you can buy a South East ticket, or depending how regularly you travel, you may find that buying single tickets offers the best value. A local Dover travel zone will continue to be available for Dover DayRider and MegaRider tickets. Also from 1st January, the Canterbury, Whitstable and Herne Bay MegaRider ticket will no longer be available. If you travel across this area you can buy a South East ticket, or depending how regularly you travel, you may find that buying single tickets offers the best value.

FAQs

Why are you removing return tickets?

Removing return tickets will simplify our ticket offering and provide more flexibility for you to choose the best value option for your travel requirements. It means you’ll need to buy a single ticket for each leg of your journey, or you’ll be able to decide if a DayRider might be a more suitable option for one day’s unlimited travel. We also offer bundles of DayRider tickets on our app, called Flexi tickets, which offer even better value and can be used whenever you want.

My child buys a child return ticket and pays £3.50, why are you making us pay more?

Most school children in Kent are eligible for the County Council’s Travel Saver pass which offers the very best value option for the academic year. But we recognise that removing return tickets will affect some families where children currently buy a return ticket whenever they travel by bus.

We continue to offer a good range of child single tickets which are around 40% cheaper than the equivalent adult single fare. In many cases buying a child single ticket for each leg of the journey will be the best value option. But we also offer a DayRider U19 ticket for children and young people up to the age of 18 years. This ticket gives unlimited travel for one day at just £4.50 in a local zone.

And to help with the cost, we’re launching a new range of Flexi ticket bundles called Flexi U19. A Flexi U19 bundle of 5 or 10 DayRider U19 tickets is up to 30% cheaper than buying individual DayRider U19 tickets.

Why are you making kid-for-a-quid tickets only valid for a single journey?

We introduced kid-for-a-quid back in 2017 and it’s become an essential feature of family bus travel in Kent. For over 7 years we’ve held the price at just £1 and we’re going to keep it that way, but from 1 January it will be valid for one single bus journey, rather than for unlimited travel throughout the day. This means we can continue to offer this exceptional value add-on ticket for children aged 5 to 15. (Remember that children 5 years or younger can travel for free on our buses).

Why are you increasing the cost of DayRider and MegaRider tickets by so much?

During the period since 2022 when the Government first introduced the £2 national single fare cap, we’ve held our DayRider and MegaRider prices as low as possible to ensure they continue to offer good value for frequent bus travel compared to buying single fares. These increases are necessary to rebalance our prices across the range of ticket options available and help recover our operating costs which have risen by over 26% during the same period.

Why are you removing the Dover & Deal DayRider and MegaRider tickets?

Unfortunately we cannot continue to offer tickets covering such a large travel zone area. Elsewhere our travel zones are based on a single urban centre with high passenger flows to and from the outlying area. Sadly there are not enough people that use bus services across the Dover and Deal area to support these discount ticket options.

Why are you removing the Canterbury, Whitstable and Herne Bay MegaRider ticket?

Unfortunately we cannot continue to offer this ticket covering such a large travel zone area. Elsewhere our travel zones are based on a single urban centre with high passenger flows to and from the outlying area. We introduced this ticket in 2019 on a trial basis to help encourage bus use in the Canterbury, Whitstable and Herne Bay area. Sadly there are not enough people using the buses in this area to support this discount period ticket.