Wee County commuters face price increase for on-board tickets

Tickets bought on its mobile app will be frozen at the 2017 price and fares under £1.90 will also be held.

However, for those travelling from Alloa to Stirling and purchasing a ticket on the bus, a single will cost £3.70, return £6.30, with a Stirling Day return available for £4.

Going via the Hillfoots, from Alloa to Stirling, it will cost £4.60 for a single and £7.20 for a return.

A Clackmannan to Stirling single will be 4.20, £7.20 return, while Clackmannan to Alloa is £2.60 single, or £4.50 return.

The changes will impact most tickets purchased on-bus and through PayPoint.

First officials say they are confident that journey times will improve if more customers used its mTickets app.

Andrew Jarvis, managing director, said: "We need to review our fares each year to ensure we meet the rising costs that we face as a business, but we have worked hard to keep any increases to a minimum.

"Travel by First Midland Bluebird still offers great value for money and we continue to offer a lower price for most tickets purchased via the mTickets app, in comparison to tickets bought from the driver, so that we can speed up bus boarding times. This allows us to improve access to purchase tickets on the go for the increasingly mobile savvy consumer.

"Our Aberdeen operation has seen a significant rise in ‘smart’ payments in recent months, with almost 50 per cent of customers now using a ‘cashless’ method.

"With Contactless soon to be available in Scotland East, we are working hard to encourage more customers to convert to using mTickets or contactless, as this will have a huge impact on boarding times and will help us in the battle to speed up the bus journeys."

For more details, visit firstgroup.com/south-east-and-central-scotland

Meanwhile, ScotRail recently hiked the cost of travel with increases of 3-4 per cent.

A single off-peak journey from Alloa to Stirling has risen 10p, while a weekly between the two stops rose from £15.40 to £16.