BUS passengers will be able to buy weekly and monthly tickets at local shops from Monday.
Arriva tickets will be sold at 70 shops across County Durham that have PayPoint facilities, where people can pay phone and utility bills.
Arriva said the scheme was its reaction to market research and passenger feedback that people want easier ways to buy tickets.
The company hopes that with fewer people having to find change at the bus stop, boarding times will be faster.
Passengers will still be able to buy daily and weekly tickets direct from bus drivers.
Arriva North-East commercial director Liz Esnouf said: "We believe this represents a significant improvement to the service we offer customers, especially as so many of the PayPoint outlets are within a short walk of an Arriva bus service.
"Many of our customers will already be familiar with the convenience of topping up their mobile phones or paying their BT, gas or electricity bills at PayPoint outlets.
"Now they can buy their bus tickets at the same time.''
PayPoint chief executive Dominic Taylor said: "We expect this new service to be extremely popular with customers as many of them are regular bus passengers and most PayPoint outlets are located in residential areas."
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