A HAMPSHIRE bus operator is raising its fares in a bid to persuade passengers to switch to cashless payments.

The price hike is being imposed next week and will result in travellers being charged an extra 50p if they buy tickets from the driver.

But First Southampton says passengers can beat the rise by using the mTicket smartphone app, which is not affected by the increase.

By making the switch customers can buy a pack of ten single tickets for £15. Each ticket will cost 50p less than those bought on board buses.

It follows the recent introduction of a new feature on the app.

Parents can buy mTickets for their children and share it with the mTicket app on their son or daughter’s smartphone, eliminating the need to provide them with cash to pay for bus travel.

The price hike, the first for three years comes into force next Thursday.

A First Southampton spokesman greater use of the app would result in passengers boarding buses more quickly and thus cutting journey times.

Describing the results of a recent experiment he said a group of volunteers had highlighted the advantages of paying by mobile phone.

He said: “It took approximately 10.5 minutes to board paying by cash and just over two minutes using the mTicket app.”

Simon Goff, general manager of First Southampton, added: “We are encouraging our customers to stop buying tickets on the bus and switch to using mTickets on our mobile phone app.

“It will result in passengers saving money as well as speeding up boarding times, helping bus be more punctual and getting to its destination quicker.”

Mr Goff said recent studies had shown that 87 per cent of the UK’s adult population had a smartphone – and 78 per cent of bus passengers who owned one used it while riding on public transport.

The mTicket app can be downloaded from the Apple App Store and Google Play.