Tyne and Wear Metro has introduced an incentive for its customers to use Pop Pay As You Go (PAYG) on phones or smart cards as prices are to be frozen for the second year in a row.

The price freeze is part of an annual review of Metro fares that comes into effect next Saturday, 1st April. Anyone who makes the switch to Pop PAYG on Android’s Google Pay will save over £1 a day, Alternatively, customers can also obtain a free smart card online from the Nexus website. Metro is also submitting plans to local councillors for a new £1 single fare for those aged 21 and under.

From this Saturday, 1st April, other Metro fares, including standard season tickets, singles, and day tickets, will be increased to help meet Metro’s increased running costs, as it faces the ongoing challenge of high inflation and higher energy bills.

Metro’s recent offer of £2 single and £4 all-day offer ends tomorrow, Friday, 31st March. However, customers can switch to PAYG and save 95p per single-zone Metro journey, and £1.05 for two and three-zone journeys.

Young people aged 16 to 21 who use Pop Blue or Pop 19-21 smartcards will also see their prices frozen. This is ahead of Nexus submitting a proposal for a £1 flat single fare to the Tyne and Wear Sub-Committee of the North East Joint Transport Committee next Thursday, 6th April. The new fare, which will apply on Metro and the Shields Ferry, is designed to match a similar fare for people aged 21 on buses in North East England that is subsidised by the Government. If the proposal is accepted, the new fare will apply from 7 May.

There will be no increase this year for older and disabled customers who hold a Gold Card.

Customer Services Director at Nexus, Huw Lewis, said: “We are doing all we can afford to provide good value to people using Metro, by freezing the price of Pop Pay As You Go travel, and travel for young people aged up to 22, older people and disabled customers.

“While some tickets will rise in price in our annual fare review, it is simple to avoid paying more for Metro travel, or even cut the cost of your journey, by switching from paper tickets to Pop Pay As You Go on android or on a smart card.

“Metro is a public service run without profit, so all the revenue we get from fares goes back into maintaining and operating the network. At a time of rising prices generally, we have focussed on providing value wherever we can to our customers.

“If you are already using Pop Pay As You Go, prices will be frozen for a second year – that’s the same price people were paying in the spring of 2021. Customers will save more than £1 a day by getting this product, either by getting a free Pop card by applying for one online or through Google Pay if you have an Android smartphone.

“This is the second year running that we have frozen the price of our PAYG product in order to help our customers with the rising cost of living. A third of adult customers are already using Pop Pay As You Go and we will continue to encourage more people to go smart and enjoy the lowest fares that we have on offer.

“Single and day tickets and season tickets are going up an average of 7.5% from this Saturday. This is in order to help us meet the challenge we face with higher Metro running costs, not least the big jump in the price of our high voltage power.”