Reasonably priced car not such a star now?

National Express West Midlands is bringing in new flexible bus tickets for people who aren’t going into their workplace five days a week at the moment.

And the bus company has worked out that for many people, it makes no financial sense to run a car any more - even Top Gear’s reasonably priced one.

The famous red Vauxhall Astra 1.6 - raced around the track by celebrities on the popular BBC show - costs £3,083 a year to run. That’s £257 a month. Yet even before lockdown, the average car was parked up for 98% of its time. And a third of all cars didn’t even go out at all on any given day. National Express West Midlands believes their new flexible bus tickets are the answer.

Chris Gibbens, Commercial Director at National Express West Midlands, says: “We have listened to our customers and designed new flexible tickets and ways of buying bus travel to suit how we’re working since the virus changed our way of life. “If you’re only going into work a few days a week, you probably don’t need a weekly or a monthly pass at the moment. So you can now get a bus ticket that matches your situation - and it works out cheaper than getting a day ticket every time. Our new tickets put you in control and mean you’re only paying for what you use.

“If you’re pretty sure you’re mainly going in to work three days a week, our new Flexifare gives you 13 days’ travel a month for £45. That saves you over £2,500 a year compared to the reasonably priced car. That’s enough for a family holiday - or you could finally cave in and get the children a dog. This new ticket is available via subscription, so you can turn it on and forget about it.

“But if you’re not sure how many days per week you’ll be going in to work, you can get a bundle of 10 day tickets which you can use any day you want over three months for just £42. “And, remember, travelling by bus is the cheapest and easiest way we can all do our bit for climate change and clean air.”

In a recent Transport for West Midlands survey, a fifth of people didn’t know whether they would continue to work from home over the next three months, go back into their workplace, or do a mixture of both.