REVISIONS in bus fares in Weymouth, Dorchester, Portland and along the Jurassic Coast are to come into place this week.

First Dorset will be making changes to some of their single and return bus ticket prices as of today, with the price of some journeys set to rise.

The majority of the revisions will be made to fares along the Jurassic Coaster X51/X53 corridor but there are slight changes to child fares between Weymouth and Dorchester, and to both adult and child fares from Portland to Dorchester.

David Shurden, general manager of First Wessex said: “Weymouth town fares are not changing and our weekly, monthly and mTicketing prices all remain unchanged.

"We hope that holding down the price of mTickets, which is a more environmentally friendly way to pay, will encourage more people to use this method of payment which saves paper and speeds up boarding times at bus stops.

“This annual fare revision will only apply to six per cent of our customers.

"There will be no change to adult single and return fares between Weymouth and Dorchester. But to keep our fares as simple as possible through denominations of 50p and £1, a child single from Weymouth to Dorchester will now be £2.50 with the return ticket being just £1 more.”

A spokesman for First Dorset added: "We always regret having to increase fares on our services. This is the first fare review that First Wessex has made in 12 months with the changes being made only applying to journeys made by less than 20 per cent of our customers.

"However, we can assure customers that any changes we make to our fares are reinvested in our business, so that we can continue further improving your journeys with us."

As reported in the Echo, starting in September, students over the age of 16 will need to pay £510 a year for a seat on a school bus – an increase of £25.

It will then go up to £640 in 2017 before reaching £770 in 2018.

This timeline was selected by the Children’s Services Overview Committee of the Dorset County Council after they were given three cost-recovery options by Children’s Services.

Jack Welch, a 20-year-old student from Weymouth said: "Public transport services simply do not respond to the needs of students, who earn barely a wage which just about covers bus fares, but in my experience it is also the quality of service.

"Whether it is running late or being met by harassed drivers, the price hike only seems to serve as a way for the council to balance the books, as opposed to an aim in improving the service along with that.

"The fact that people over 16 are affected by this almost creates a two-tier system in which the education of students under that age acts as more of a priority than the other."