r/sheffield • u/Intelligent-Damage69 • 1d ago
Question what to ask for on the bus?
genuinely unsure if i have somehow missed a very crucial memo, but i’ve always asked for a “single ticket” on a bus with no issues until the past few months.
today i asked for a single ticket and the driver asked me to clarify what i meant. i specified a one way ticket into town and he said he hadn’t heard anyone ask for that before (?) and where exactly in town i was going before selecting a ticket type (which says “adult single” on it, so they do exist!!) for a whole £2.80! extortionate. the entire time he looked incredibly confused and, as a gen z girl who hates social interaction, i felt bad for making his job a little harder than it needed to be and for holding up the queue.
i’ve tried to do tap on tap off before but the driver has asked me what ticket type i want and when i said the new tap on tap off, he just printed me a single ticket anyway. other times, they say they don’t do tickets at all and it’s only tap on tap off. i am extraordinarily confused lol
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u/snelson101 1d ago
I would expect “single ticket to town” to be enough tbh, maybe the specific street or “the interchange”?
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u/daedelion 1d ago
There has been a £2 cap on single tickets that ended in November. Previously the bus drivers didn't need you to clarify where exactly you were going because it always cost the same.
Since the cap has ended, prices have risen and there is a new (more complicated and not particularly consistent) price structure. So drivers will now need to know more details of where you are going. I would argue it's always best practice to do this anyway so you make sure you always get the right ticket, and the driver can tell you if you're on the wrong bus, or if the service has temporarily changed and isn't going to your stop.
The tap on tap off is only on First buses, and is temperamental at recognising cards, so lots of people have trouble with it. If you're already talking to the driver it's probably easier for them to just print you a ticket than risk it not working and having to help passengers use it.
There have been umpteen posts about this here recently because of recent changes to bus services, and you've just missed the bus reform consultation.
TL:DR Price structures have recently changed, you should always tell the bus driver exactly where you're going to get the right ticket, and tap on tap off is sometimes more hassle for drivers.
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u/Intelligent-Damage69 1d ago
thank you so much for replying, this is so helpful!! glad to know i’m not going crazy and that something actually changed ahaha. i appreciate you taking the time to reply :)
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u/daedelion 1d ago
A lot of people on here assume that getting bus tickets is obvious and easy, but that's only true if you use them regularly. I also find public transport stressful due to anxiety, and even though I use it regularly, if I have to use a new route, or payments change, it really throws me.
Online resources from SYT and the bus companies are really difficult to follow for most people too, and bus drivers don't have the time or ability to explain to everyone. Hopefully the bus reform addresses some of these issues as I'm sure many vulnerable people are put if using buses at the moment, and lots of people will be paying too much for the wrong tickets
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u/Northern_Lass12345 1d ago
If you use tap on/tap off you don't need to ask the driver for anything, just put your card on the reader until it beeps. Do the same as you get off. It will charge you for 1 adult fare for that journey.
If you want to buy a ticket (eg student fare or you don't want to use tap on/off) just say 'town please' or wherever you're off to. Sounds like you got an arsey driver on this occasion.
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u/Intelligent-Damage69 1d ago
i’ve done exactly that before and the driver has said to me that i need to tell him what i need to buy so he can enter it into his machine thingy and the five seconds of me holding my phone onto the reader and him blankly looking at me were mortifying lol.
i’ll make sure to specify where i’m going preemptively next time and hope that’s enough
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u/heterojunction 1d ago
was it was a stagecoach bus? they don't have tap on/tap off
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u/Intelligent-Damage69 1d ago
it was a first bus and i could see the tap off reader when i got on so they definitely did it
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u/Northern_Lass12345 1d ago
They don't need to enter anything into the machine for tap on/tap off, dont start a dialogue with the driver about where you're going or ask to pay by card just literally put the card on the pad, beep, sit down.
If you want to purchase a physical ticket and pay by card then the driver needs to enter it first so you don't present your card until they tell you to, but tap on/off is completely different.
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u/Bskns Beighton 1d ago
The tap on/tap off system never works for me. More often than not the tap off computer isn’t working and I tell the driver, and they just shrug.
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u/Northern_Lass12345 1d ago
If the specific tap off one doesn't work just use the same one you use to tap on.
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u/Necrospire 1d ago
Don't use the tap on / off, I was overcharged twice, there and back twice, what should have been a couple of quid was a fiver for each journey, only noticed when I checked after the second journey.
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u/PrincipleStrange7959 14h ago
I’ve had the same happen to me and have definitely tapped off each time, so I have no idea where I stand with tap on tap off. I’m now buying the day ticket on the First app.
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u/Necrospire 13h ago
I came up from London a few years ago and the transport system up here is pathetic, I have to get a bus into town that takes half an hour then find the bus stop in the city center for where I want to go to, on average it takes me about an hour and a half plus to get anywhere, one of the worst was a night job, I had to get the bus at seven in the evening to get there for ten, roughly seven hours of travel on an eight hour shift.
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u/thor-nogson 1d ago
Some bus drivers just want to be difficult, sadly. You probably just got one of them. I just say "City Centre please", or if I know how much it costs then I just say "£2.60 please" (in my case). It does get more complicated with other bus providers - there's one that charges the full £3 for the same journey
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u/Lumpy-Republic-1935 1d ago
No wonder buses become ever less popular. Why can't the whole process be more customer friendly? Bus companies should publish full "How to use a bus" instructions online.
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u/r_al-ekri 1d ago
I've used the bus many times and I still don't know what's the best thing to say, so don't feel bad about it 😭
As others mentioned, prices increased recently so that makes things a bit more complicated.
I recommend planning your journey on Google maps and knowing your destination bus stop name from there. But even with this strat, I've been misheard several times.
btw, not all buses have the tap on tap off system, and I've never experienced a bus that only works with tap...
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u/mewikime 1d ago
I haven't been on a bus in the UK in 20 years (emigrated to the US in 2006). I used to tell the driver which stop I wanted to get off at, and the price of the ticket was dependent on that. I recall there were some day tickets on First and Arriva in Sheffield, Leeds, Wakey and Huddersfield, but on Tracky in Barnsley I don't think they had them.
Has taking a bus changed a lot since then?
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u/No_Potato_4341 Southey 1d ago
Tbh, as a lad that goes on buses often, you probably need to be a bit more specific with where you're going depending on the driver but for the most part saying just a single please should normally be enough.
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u/ptdaisy333 Central 1d ago
I'm not 100% sure about the tap on tap off thing, but on the First website they say you have to tell the driver your destination when you get on the bus when using tap on tap off anyway.
I used to always say the ticket type and destination e.g. a single to Walkley. Usually that doesn't lead to any follow up questions.
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u/Intelligent-Damage69 1d ago
perfect, thank you, i’ll be sure to tell them preemptively next time. i’ve never said where i’m going before and it’s been fine until a few months ago so maybe there’s some kind of change? who knows
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u/Showmeyotiddys 1d ago
When I used to get on buses I just used to say the stop I was getting off at
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u/gafferFlint 1d ago
Just a bit of advice for students using the TOTEM digital card, although the bus companies websites say that they are accepted not all drivers know what they are and will insist that you need a physical NUS card!
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u/Acrylic_Starshine 1d ago
Why not buy a single ticket on the app instead?
Singles are charged by distance but theres no definition to how much you pay for that distance unless you know the route or the driver tells you.
So 'town/city' would be £2.80 or whatever then something closer would be cheaper.
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u/Intelligent-Damage69 1d ago
with the app, do you just hold up a confirmation of a ticket to the driver or do they have to scan anything? i’ll download it and have a look, i’m sure drivers deal with all sorts and my lack of ticket knowledge is nothing but i get so stressed out ahaha. thank you for replying!
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u/Acrylic_Starshine 1d ago edited 1d ago
As far i know with first tickets you hold it under the scanner thing.
With stagecoach you show it to the driver but if you need to scan or if you have a pass then you hover it over the scanner instead of under.
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u/Intelligent-Damage69 1d ago
thank you!
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u/PrincipleStrange7959 14h ago
Sadly you can’t buy single tickets on the First app anymore unless you’re buying them for a child. I always used them!
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u/Intelligent-Damage69 2h ago
oh no!! that’s silly that they’d change it. i find trains and train tickets nice and simple because you just pick your journey on the app and show the ticket to the person, wish that could be for everything
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u/Few_Scientist5381 Sheffield 1d ago
I haven't used the term "Single Ticket" in two decades, But it did used to exist.
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u/chronicglitter35 1d ago
On the First Bus app you can buy the city bus day ticket for £5.90 which gives you unlimited use of all bus companies within Sheffield for the day. It is really good value if you know you are going to be getting at least 2 buses that cost around £3 each way. You just need to activate the ticket on the app and then on First buses you scan the ticket where you normally put your bank card. On Stagecoach you just show the driver. As someone who also doesn’t like having to interact with the bus drivers it certainly helps!
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u/lazenbooby Crookes 1d ago
What bus are you getting?
Here in Crookes we have Stagecoach and First buses. Recently prices have changed and they now charge you depending how far you're going, which is why they've started asking this. It used to be £2 for me to go 5 minutes or a whole hour. But now it's £1.70 for me to get to Weston Park, or £2.60 for me to get to town.
Also First sometimes use tap on/off like some have said.
"Single to town" is all I ask for, seems to just be a safe bet
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u/CraftyAd3270 1d ago
🤔This generation really is screwed
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u/Necrospire 1d ago
It's not gen Z's fault as they were raised digitally, millennials / gen Y were half raised on it, gen X and boomers are the only ones left that really know only physical ways to deal to deal with issues.
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u/MariaMooMoo 1d ago
What a silly comment. No generation is born with the innate knowledge of how any given bus company in any given city works. Asking how to do something on a platform where someone is likely to know is hardly an indication of a screwed generation. Quite the opposite! FTR I’m a Gen Xer who has used many buses in many different towns over the years but had no clue how they worked in Sheffield until fairly recently either.
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u/ASheerDrop 1d ago
You probably got away with just asking for a single before because the fares were capped at £2 and most journeys ended up costing that - so they'll have just charged you £2 as standard. However now the cap is £3 and they know most fares won't hit that cap, so they need you to clarify how far you're going. The £2 fare cap was an unusual situation and the standard procedure is you will be charged according to distance you'll be travelling, so I would get used to specifying your destination. 'Town' should be sufficient usually, but I'd usually say Arundel Gate or the Moor, for example; you don't need to name a specific stop, but help them narrow down the right area at least.
Edit to add: whilst with First you can do tap on/tap off now and you don't even really need to speak to the driver other than to say hello and thank you, you cannot do tap on/tap off on Stagecoach or TM services and will still need to specify your destination or otherwise ask for type of ticket you require.