PASSENGERS on Taunton's park and ride buses will be charged from next week.

The £1 single fare and £2 return come in from Monday (September 5) following the reopening of the Creech Castle/Toneway junction this Thursday.

Somerset County Council waived charges for the Gateway and Silk Mills servies while the £8.3million roadworks were in progress.

The aim of the free scheme, which started in August last year, was to cut congestion while restrictions were in place due to the work.

It saw weekly usage of park and ride buses up from around 2,323 in July 2021 to 11,381 a week this July.

The new £2 return is cheaper than the £3.50 fare before the Toneway works and also less than a decade ago.

In addition, before the zero fare was introduced, concessionary bus passes were not accepted for free travel on the park and ride but this is now being introduced along with the cheaper fare.

The council is also bringing in a new £1 fare for bus travel anywhere in the Taunton area, along with new evening and weekend services on some routes.

Cllr Mike Rigby, County Hall lead member for transport, said: “The zero fare was introduced while the Toneway works were in progress to help cut congestion and during that time we’ve seen a fantastic increase in the numbers using it – around 400,000 free journeys in fact, which is really positive for the environment in terms of cutting CO2.

“Obviously we can’t maintain the service for free indefinitely, but we want that upward trend in use to continue. In fact we want to make sure more people are using the bus in general which is why we’re introducing a heavily discounted fare not just for the park and ride but across Taunton, and hopefully across other parts of Somerset in the future if we can secure additional funding from the Government.

“Using the park and ride will still be great value – cheaper than it was in 2011, and that’s crucial while we continue to live through this cost of living crisis with soaring household bills. We’re pleased to be able to ensure commuters and shoppers can use the service cheaply for the foreseeable future as part of our Bus Service Improvement Plan.”