There are a variety of ticket types and ways to pay, depending on how often you travel and when.
Cash tickets
You can pay the driver as you board the bus. Please ensure you have a selection of coins ready, as not all operators can give change.
You can buy a single ticket if you are making just one journey. Single fares are currently capped at £2.00 for adults (some services are excluded)
If you are making more than three bus journeys during the course of the day, it will be more cost effective to buy a day ticket. The nBus ticket allows unlimited bus travel on all bus operators’ services all day for £4.80.
Contactless Payment
Contactless payments are available on all buses within the West Midlands area. You can use a contactless bank card, or an NFC-enabled smartphone with a payment app setup, eg mobile banking, Google Pay or Apple Pay.
Before tapping your card/device on the reader, tell the driver which ticket you require, then tap when prompted to do so.
If you’re planning on travelling with the same operator, you can of course just tap your card/device without requesting a ticket, to take advantage of ‘Tap And Cap’ fares.
Tap And Cap does not work ‘cross-operator’ yet, you will need to use a Swift Go card instead (see below) or request a paper day ticket.
SWIFT Pay As You Go
The SWIFT Pay As You Go (PAYG) card is a smartcard that acts as an ‘electronic wallet’ that you can use to buy single and day tickets, so you never need to hunt around for the right change again. Top it up with credit, and you can use it to buy bus and tram tickets, as well as pay for parking at some Park And Ride sites. You can also share this card with others.
SWIFT Go
The SWIFT Go card is a smartcard that works like a contactless bank card, meaning you don’t need to buy a specific ticket, you can just “Tap And Go” on any bus operator’s service within the West Midlands, and you can also use it on trams. You can either top it up with credit, or link it to a bank card, and your fares are capped at 1, 3 or 7 day rates.
Smartphone Apps
NX Bus, Diamond, Arriva and Stagecoach all have their own apps, with which you can buy “M-tickets”, which can be stored on your smartphone and scanned under the QR reader as you board.
If using a purchased M-ticket on another operator’s service, you may need to just show the screen to the driver if the QR code is not scannable.
Season Tickets/Passes
For passengers who use the bus regularly, you can make further savings on the cost of travel by purchasing a seasonal ticket, which is valid for a week, month or even year.
If you regularly make 7 single journeys a week, or are buying at least 3 day tickets a week, a weekly pass will work out cheaper for you, and a monthly pass will save you more.
Season tickets paid for by direct debit will also see a cost saving. The monthly nBus pass costs £55 per month, and allows unlimited bus travel all day on any West Midlands operator’s services for less than £2 a day.*
* £55 per month x 12 months, divided by 364 usable days (no Christmas Day services) = £1.81 a day
Children
Children up to the age of 5 travel free when accompanied by an adult.
Children between the ages of 5 and 15 pay reduced fares.
If you are aged 16 or over, you must pay the full adult fare. Students aged between 16-18 can however buy child-rate tickets with a 16-18 photocard, which can be obtained from the TfWM website.
Ticket Inspection
Please keep your printed ticket as you may be asked to present it to ticket inspectors or other bus operator’s member of staff. If you paid via contactless ‘tap and go’ where no ticket is issued, the inspector will ask to see your payment card number or device ID. You must have a valid ticket or pass in order to travel on buses, and you will be liable to pay a ‘penalty fare’ if you are caught.
Useful Links
- TfWM Ticket Finder
- NX Bus Ticket Prices
- NX Bus Contactless Payments
- NX Bus mTicket
- Diamond Buses Ticket Information
- Diamond Buses Contactless Payments
- Diamond Buses M-Tickets Guide
- Arriva UK Bus App Guide
- Stagecoach Bus App
- SWIFT Smartcard