FIRST Bus has announced changes to its ticket prices, which will make travel cheaper for people who use their smartphones to pay.

From Sunday, October 15, it will be making changes to its fares on buses in Bradford and around West Yorkshire, and will be offering lower fares for most tickets on its mTickets app.

It will be cheaper to travel using a smartphone than to pay with cash when boarding a bus.

The move is to encourage more people to switch to cashless travel, as research has shown this can make boarding 75 per cent quicker.

For example, a West Yorkshire weekly ticket will cost £21 if bought from a driver, but will be £1 cheaper on the mTickets app.

Paul Matthews, managing director at First West Yorkshire, said: “From time-to-time we need to review our fares to 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 West Yorkshire still offers great value for money, and we have decided to offer a lower price for most tickets purchased via the mTickets app, in comparison to tickets purchased from the driver, so that we can speed up bus boarding times.

“We need to tackle the impact of congestion, and more customers using mTickets will help to speed up journey times.”

When asked whether he thought giving smartphone users cheaper travel may disadvantage others, such as people who cannot afford a smartphone or those who are not tech-savvy, Mr Matthews said that is why fares are being kept “as affordable as possible”.

He said: “We are committed to investing in cashless technology to improve boarding times, which will ultimately lead to quicker bus journeys, but for the time being we will continue to offer customers the option to pay with cash.

“Last year, more than one million passenger journeys a week on First Bus services were made via mTickets and we will also start to introduce contactless machines onto our West Yorkshire buses from the beginning of next year.

“The introduction of contactless payments alongside our success with mobile ticketing is pivotal as we continue to make bus travel a convenient, simple and attractive experience for our customers, despite the ever increasing congestion that we face.”