Bus fare cap - ongoing issue, merged posts

[whole diary]

[TaplowGreen]

Excellent news. A sustainable increase for the government and not too great a price shock for bus users.

I fear that the 50% rise in the bus fare cap may be the only good news to look forward to from the Government this week! 

[XPT]

I don't see what's good or excellent news about the bus fare cap rising to £3.  This will probably mean that even very short distance bus journeys now will rise from £2 to £3.  I expect it will be the case with First Bristol/First West of England buses anyway.  As all their single fares are a flat fare of £2.  I can't see them changing their fare structure to for example short distance journeys for £2 and longer distance journeys for £3.  Will their "Tap in Tap out" system be able to work out short distance and longer distance journeys to calculate the fare?  We'll have to see.  But I expect they'll probably just change their flat fare single journeys to £3 to keep it simple.  So this would even mean even very short distance journeys of up to a few stops or only about a mile or so in distance would be £3 now.  Which is pretty expensive!  Some people would probably decide to walk instead of forking out £3 for such a short distance journey.

[bobm]

In Swindon the short hop fare with Swindon's Buses on Tap on, Tap off was £1.80 until recently when it rose by 10p.   I don't see that increasing to £3 in January.

[JayMac]

Taunton's £150 flat fare is also not increasing as far as I'm aware. The park and ride service is just £1.

[ray951]

Taunton's £150 flat fare is also not increasing as far as I'm aware. The park and ride service is just £1.

I would hope not 

[JayMac]

Aha ha ha. I of course meant £1.50.

[infoman]

Ah Well,this is good news if your heading to Manchester for an event,

unless like most of us on here that have already got their senior citizen bus pass card.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz6jlze96elo

[grahame]

Ah Well,this is good news if your heading to Manchester for an event,

unless like most of us on here that have already got their senior citizen bus pass card.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz6jlze96elo

Thank you for bringing us that. Good on Manchester for retaining the £2 cap.  Environmentally, this is very encouraging and in an ideal world (or a better one?) I would have liked to have seen that nationwide - however, the temporary scheme that was in place was always going to be a challenge to maintain in areas where the typical bus journey is longer, such as the South West, whatever flavour the new government.

[infoman]

Not sure if this in the correct section for the topic.

Andy Burnham metro Mayor for Manchester speaking on LIVE on BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) breakfast talking about various issues,

stated he/they were going to have a meeting with Northern rail today(Wednesday 30 October 2024) to discuss the high amount of cancellations.

[grahame]

Not sure if this in the correct section for the topic.

Not sure where is right for that really - but it continues the Manchester public transport theme that's topical this morning, so this looks fine.

Far from being just a Manchester / Northern issue though ... on my blog at https://grahamellis.uk/blog1399.html I wrote this morning about what happened at last night's Melksham Town Council meeting.

5. Railway - and a report back on the letter of concern we sent to GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) relating to the reliability of their train service at Melksham, in particular in relation to short notice cancellations. These are usually reported as being due to insufficient staff or working trains being available. The letter was sent a couple of months ago, and we still await a reply. We did hear back from our Community Rail Partnership, who explained why the trains are not reliable, but were unable to offer any substantive news on how the acknowledged problem will be fixed - they are in GWR's hands (and GWR's masters perhaps - the Department for transport who are the puppet masters in many ways). But I can report back on what may be things getting a bit better - hard to tell because the problems go up and down - and I can also report on a somewhat better provision of alternative road transport. On a (different) matter I have spoken with GWR managers twice earlier this month, and they have confirmed that their MD received the letter ... the fact that it has been copied around within the organisation is encouraging, as is the new Wiltshire Rail Strategy which I wrote about last week - you'll find that if you scroll down.

[JayMac]

unless like most of us on here that have already got their senior citizen bus pass card.

Are most of this forum's membership of senior bus pass age? I'd be interested to know the stats.

[johnneyw]

unless like most of us on here that have already got their senior citizen bus pass card.

Are most of this forum's membership of senior bus pass age? I'd be interested to know the stats.

I'm teetering on the brink of that particular addition to my wallet.  My application went in yesterday.

[Chris from Nailsea]

I'm looking forward to applying for mine next year, when I will (hopefully) reach State pension age. 

[ChrisB]

From The Mirror, via MSN

Transport Secretary Louise Haigh gives update on future of £3 bus fare cap

The £3 cap on single bus fares could be targeted at younger people and rural areas from 2026, Louise Haigh has suggested.

The Transport Secretary hinted that rather than extending the overall cap once more the government will explore other options in the coming year. Last month it was confirmed at the Budget the cap would be extended - costing £150million.

But it was announced the cap will also go up from £2 to £3 at the start of next year through the end of December 2025. Fares less than £3 will only rise by inflation.

Ms Haigh told Sky News's Trevor Phillips: "The plans we inherited would have ended the cap completely on December 31. We've stepped in with funding to protect (the cap) at £3 until the 31st of December next year, and in that period, we'll look to establish more targeted approaches."

"We've, through evaluation of the £2 cap, found that the best approach is to target it at young people.

"So we want to look at ways in order to ensure more targeted ways, just like we do with the concessionary fare for older people, we think we can develop more targeted ways that will better encourage people onto buses."

Pressed on whether there will not be a single cap after December 2025 but subsidies will be targeted at certain groups of people, she replied: "That's what we're considering at the moment.

"As we go through this year, as we have that time, whilst the £3 cap is in place, because the evaluation that we had showed it hadn't represented good value for money, the previous cap."

It came as the Transport Secretary also revealed where £1 billion in funding will go to deliver London-style buses nationwide as part of a massive Budget boost. She confirmed £712 million in funding for local authorities to improve services, alongside a further £243 million for bus operators.

Areas receiving an "unprecedented" amount of funding include Peterborough, the Isle of Wight, Torbay, Cambridgeshire, Leicester and Torbay.

Speaking on Sunday, she said: "If you live in a lot of small towns or villages, you've not got a bus before 9am or after 5pm and that's what stops people catching the bus."

[ChrisB]

From the Metro, via MSN

Full list of areas sharing £1,000,000,000 funding for London-style buses

Areas set to benefit from close to £1 billion investment in bus services have been revealed.

The government hopes to make bus travel more convenient and cheaper across the country, letting more regions benefit from a service similar to that in the capital, where you rarely go long without seeing a familiar double decker.

Unveiling more detail today, they said South Yorkshire would get £17 million; Liverpool City Region would get nearly £21 million; Lancashire would get £27 million; Kent would get £23 million; Essex would get £17 million; and Norfolk £15 million.

Areas receiving an ‘unprecedented’ amount of funding include Peterborough, the Isle of Wright, Torbay, Cambridgeshire, Leicester and Torbay.

Bus services are currently a ‘postcode lottery’, with many locations underserved particularly in rural areas, and the funding system inconsistent.

Transport Secretary Louise Haigh confirmed £712 million in funding for local authorities to improve services today, alongside a further £243 million for bus operators.

A reformed allocation model has been based on need – for example an area’s levels of deprivation and population – instead of making areas compete for funding as in previous years.

Ms Haigh said: ‘Buses are the lifeblood of communities, but the system is broken.

‘Too often, passengers are left waiting hours for buses that don’t turn up – and some have been cut off altogether.

‘That’s why we’re reforming funding to deliver better buses across the country and end the postcode lottery of bus services.’

Alongside this big Budget commitment, the Government will also set aside £150 million to cap fares at a maximum of £3 and an inflationary limit will also be set to ensure other fares are not automatically increased to £3. The cap will run until the end of 2025.

However, the news has not been universally welcomed because single bus fares in England have been capped at £2 outside London, where they are £1.75 per journey, for most routes since January 2023, so some fares may now increase.

Alison Edwards, of the Confederation of Passenger Transport said: ‘It is encouraging to see that the funding will be shared across every English region. Bus operators look forward to working with local authorities on plans to speed up services, improve coordination and enhance frequencies.

‘Bus passengers deserve a fair funding deal. Every pound of public money invested in buses delivers a return of more than £4 in benefits to the environment, to public health and to communities.’