A more comprehensive network of school buses has been started by Reading Buses. It also includes clear online network maps for each of the five main schools. They continue to be served by bespoke Silverstars-branded buses, operated by a dedicated team of DBS-certified drivers.
It is also extending buses on the main network to improve travel for pupils to get to school.
It has also aligned the Silverstars tickets, with customers at each of the schools now paying the same amount for their passes.
These services will still come under Reading Buses’ Silverstars network offering for schools, meaning customers can buy Silverstars smartcards to ensure their children have a bus pass to get to and from school.
These new services will be numbered similar to their parent route, but will have a letter after them to show that they are extended to or from a school – such as yellow 26T – extended to Theale Green.
These buses will also have special Silverstars fares for boost (under 19) aged customers as the company’s standard range of boost products and tickets will not available for use on these buses given their special nature in exactly the same way as the old TG and LH numbered services
The Silverstars buses serve five main schools across the Reading area – Bulmershe, Denefield, Little Heath, Chiltern Edge and Theale Green.
“When we took over full control of these school bus operations last year, we decided to keep the legacy pricing from the previous year to begin with,” says Jake Osman, Reading Buses Marketing and Communications Manager.
“This put a differential between the three main schools within the Silverstars routes and so meant some schools were paying far more than others. For this year, we have looked at our pricing and aligned it so that all school products are the same price, regardless of which school they are for. All products are now available to buy online through our dedicated sites for each school.”
Find out more: www.reading-buses.co.uk/schools