February 6, 2018 9.34 am This story is over 73 months old

Bus travel in Lincoln 53% cheaper than commuting by car, but is it more convenient?

Why aren’t more people using buses?

A new study has revealed that commuters in Lincoln can save around £611 per year by using buses instead of cars, but are traffic congestion and reliability issues putting people off making the switch?

In the research, conducted by Stagecoach, it was suggested passengers can save around £53 in a month which makes travelling by bus 53% cheaper than travelling by car.

A megarider ticket in Lincoln costs £12. This ticket can be used multiple times within the local area of Stagecoach for a week.

Around 35 main commuter routes were included in the study in England, Scotland and Wales, where the cost of a week’s travel in buses was compared with the cost of fuel and car parking on the same routes.

There was an average annual savings of £1,200 across all the 35 routes.

Michelle Hargreaves, Managing Director of Stagecoach East Midlands, said: “This research shows it can still be significantly cheaper to commute to work by bus rather than car for many people. The savings could go towards a family holiday, home improvements or more into the monthly shopping budget.”

Stagecoach launched a nationwide campaign focusing on the flexibility and value for money through the multi-journey weekly tickets.

All benefits considered, it still is problematic to travel by bus on certain routes.

Michelle Hargreaves added:

“Unfortunately, along with other road users, our customers are being affected by the serious issue of traffic congestion which reduces the reliability of bus services, pushes up fares, reduces air quality and undermines the attractiveness of bus travel.”

In a study conducted last year by Professor David Begg, it was revealed that average traffic speed in the busy cities might fall down 12mph by the year 2030 due to increase in the traffic delays.