Bus fares up 50% from today.

I also think it’s shocking. Using public transport is making less sense every day. No wonder our roads are totally clogged with cars.

What would fares be if there wasn’t a cap on them? Bus companies, like other businesses are there to make profit.
Nationalising the transport system would possibly make travelling free or less expensive. But of course, that would raise taxes and not suit many people. Would it?

I thought that the £2 a journey fare was introduced, at least partly, to encourage people back onto buses. If that hadn't been introduced, most folk would have been paying twice or three times that for their bus journeys. I, for one, didn't expect it to last for ever.

However, I do agree that the increase will make a big difference to the budgets of people on low incomes. It would, though, have made things more complicated if the fares went up to e.g. £2-50 when giving change might have been required.

This was only ever a temporary and voluntary scheme for bus operators to see if it encouraged bus use. It was never mandatory for operators to join.

The £2 cap was introduced on January 1 2023. Phase 1 was only set to run for three months. It was then extended to the end of October 2023 (Phase 2) when the fare was supposed to go up to £2.50 - but the planned raise was abandoned and the fare left at £2 until the end of 2024. One could argue that the percentage increase now reflects the fact that the cap didn’t increase then.

Over the period of the £2 cap, various operators left the scheme because they found it unviable.

Local authorities and metro mayors can still fund their own schemes to reduce fares to lower than £3 if they want to. The county council here reports that it subsidises 15% of bus routes as they are not commercially viable.

The cap scheme is only of limited use anyway. One trip on one bus for the capped price. Those who benefit most are those doing long journeys. As MSE pointed out in October 2023:

The biggest savings can be made on the longest routes; for example, a single bus journey from Lancaster to Kendall [22 miles] normally costs £14.50 – meaning you'll save £12.50 with the fare cap.

Single bus fares in Bath, Bristol, Greater Manchester, London, Merseyside, and West Yorkshire are already capped at no more than £2 a journey through existing ongoing schemes, which aren't part of the current cap.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2023/january/bus-fare-cap-england-transport/

Here we have a network of city buses that criss-cross the city but routes are relatively short. Someone may have to take two or more services to get to work (more likely if they do not work in the city centre) so a one-way journey would have cost them at least £4. Most of our larger employers are not in the city centre.

For anybody who travels regularly the answer has always been to buy a season ticket. An unlimited monthly ticket here costs £85. With that, just using a single bus route twice a day still works at at around £2 a journey.

The new government has allocated another £955 million to support bus services until 2026.

www.gov.uk/government/news/1-billion-government-funding-boost-for-bus-services-across-england-to-help-end-postcode-lottery

Come to Gibraltar ,buses are free!

The busfare cap was only funded until 31 December, so I suppose it’s a positive that it’s been continued, even if the price has gone up. Surely workers using buses every day will use weekly or monthly passes, as I used to do. In our area these are £45 for 10 daily passes, each for unlimited travel. In some other areas they’re a lot cheaper (£21 for 7 days bus travel in Manchester).

Though if I had my way public transport would be subsidised much more heavily. We really do need to tackle the issue of our reliance on cars.

Septimia

I thought that the £2 a journey fare was introduced, at least partly, to encourage people back onto buses. If that hadn't been introduced, most folk would have been paying twice or three times that for their bus journeys. I, for one, didn't expect it to last for ever.

However, I do agree that the increase will make a big difference to the budgets of people on low incomes. It would, though, have made things more complicated if the fares went up to e.g. £2-50 when giving change might have been required.

headline news: some cities are keeping the £2 fare including all of London, Leeds, (all West Yorkshire) Liverpool and Greater Manchester, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

I don't have a full list as it was just in the local paper - people could check locally. Presumably subsidised by the LA.

Yes, it's regrettable, but how else do people think buses can be kept running when cost price would be so much more than £3?

More on income tax? Tax what else?

by the way, costs are not as high for regular bus users as suggested in the O/P, ie £ x number of journeys, certainly not locally, as you can buy daily or weekly bus tickets at cut prices

Surely unless it's just one or two days you travel you would get a bus pass which would work out cheaper.
I have a freedom pass, but drive as buses for some reason make me feel sick. My partner uses his freedom pass and saves alot of money.
I do agree £3 a day is alot, especially for people who rely on them but don't use transport the whole of the week so not financially cost effective to buy a pass.

saltrock123

Come to Gibraltar ,buses are free!

Can I get there on my bus pass? 😂

Maggiemaybe

The busfare cap was only funded until 31 December, so I suppose it’s a positive that it’s been continued, even if the price has gone up. Surely workers using buses every day will use weekly or monthly passes, as I used to do. In our area these are £45 for 10 daily passes, each for unlimited travel. In some other areas they’re a lot cheaper (£21 for 7 days bus travel in Manchester).

Though if I had my way public transport would be subsidised much more heavily. We really do need to tackle the issue of our reliance on cars.

As well as a weekly bus pass being £21 in Manchester the Mayor Andy Brougham is looking for ways to change the system of buses being in private ownership to being under public control under the Bee network

tfgm.com/the-bee-network

rafichagran

Surely unless it's just one or two days you travel you would get a bus pass which would work out cheaper.
I have a freedom pass, but drive as buses for some reason make me feel sick. My partner uses his freedom pass and saves alot of money.
I do agree £3 a day is alot, especially for people who rely on them but don't use transport the whole of the week so not financially cost effective to buy a pass.

Locally you can buy bus passes for a number of journeys that can be used irregularly.

I have a nasty feeling Rachel will take our Freedom passes at the next budget, as pensioners have loads of money.

DGC's bus fares (UK) cost £200 per month for 2 children to get to school and college before the price rise.
That's a big hole in a family budget.

Maggiemaybe

The busfare cap was only funded until 31 December, so I suppose it’s a positive that it’s been continued, even if the price has gone up. Surely workers using buses every day will use weekly or monthly passes, as I used to do. In our area these are £45 for 10 daily passes, each for unlimited travel. In some other areas they’re a lot cheaper (£21 for 7 days bus travel in Manchester).

Though if I had my way public transport would be subsidised much more heavily. We really do need to tackle the issue of our reliance on cars.

We really do need to tackle the issue of our reliance on cars.

People will not abandon their cars unless we have an integrated, reliable, affordable, public transport system.

And I would feel quite safe betting my house on the fact that this will never happen.

Capping fares and tinkering around will never solve the fundamental problem.

Charleygirl5

I have a nasty feeling Rachel will take our Freedom passes at the next budget, as pensioners have loads of money.

Here we go. Last summer was full of "they might do this and that" that never came to be.

there has never been the slightest suggestion that our bus passes for older/disabled people will be cut,

unless you can find a source Charleygirl5?

People will not abandon their cars unless we have an integrated, reliable, affordable, public transport system.
Absolutely!

Carrots, not sticks.

But politicians, national and local, do not seem able to grasp that fact.

I agree, Allira, of course. How to get there is another matter entirely because of the costs of running part or mostly empty buses.

And people love their cars despite a good bus system. Locally the bus and tram services are pretty good, but its noticeable that the buses are full at work times on the poorer side of my city - and not on the better off side and its because people prefer the convenience of cars. .

Even with the increase, commuters are still paying less than they were before January 2023.

The cap was only temporary and an experiment, which was common knowledge.

Some local authorities will continue with the lower cap.

Regular bus commuters get season tickets, as they always have done.

The cap was of little use to regular commuters as it was only valid for one journey anyway.

If you want permanently subsidised bus fares then private bus companies have to be compensated. They are businesses, not charitable institutions. This would have to be achieved through increased taxes and I have no doubt there would be a god almighty uproar about that. Especially from car drivers (who already pay road tax) and pensioners who get free bus passes.

Here in Manchester, Andy Burnam has kept our bus fares at £2. Our buses are coming under local authority control. They look rather good as well.

Wyllow3

I agree, Allira, of course. How to get there is another matter entirely because of the costs of running part or mostly empty buses.

And people love their cars despite a good bus system. Locally the bus and tram services are pretty good, but its noticeable that the buses are full at work times on the poorer side of my city - and not on the better off side and its because people prefer the convenience of cars. .

Yes, I do see that a bus which goes to the next town is often almost empty - but crammed full, standing room only when children are going to and from school.

Our Council tax has not increased to pay for our public owned bus service. Things seem to be working well here. I suppose it depends if there is the will to improve life for passengers and for the environment.

They do indeed Ilovecheese. I love the Bee buses.
(The 🐝 is the symbol for Manchester reflecting our industrial heritage. The black and white tiled flooring in the beautiful town hall in our City where our daughter got married 15 years ago has the bees incorporated into the design).

Andy Burnham is indeed proving a highly motivational Mayor of our city.

“ Greater Manchester is set to make history as the first area outside London to bring all bus services under local control in almost 40 years.

On 5 January 2025, Greater Manchester’s remaining 250+ bus services in Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and parts of Manchester and Salford will join the Bee Network.

The Bee Network is already making it easier to get around on safe, affordable, reliable services. Customers can ‘Say Yellow’ to:

Improvements on key bus routes, with more frequent, earlier and later services linking up with trams and trains.
A range of value for money Bee Bus tickets that can be used on all Bee Network buses.
Hundreds of newer, cleaner Bee Network buses.
From 5 January everyone using the Bee Network can look forward to:

A low single ‘hopper’ fare (£2 adult/£1 child) so you can ‘hop on’ on more than one bus within 60 minutes of buying your ticket.
Cheaper 7-day, 28-day and annual Bee Bus tickets making travel easier.
Frozen Metrolink fares for the fifth year running.
Even more TravelSafe staff out on the network.
From spring 2025 we’re introducing combined contactless travel across trams AND buses with a daily and weekly cap, making it easier than ever to pay.”

Not every area is so fortunate.

FriedGreenTomatoes2

They do indeed Ilovecheese. I love the Bee buses.
(The 🐝 is the symbol for Manchester reflecting our industrial heritage. The black and white tiled flooring in the beautiful town hall in our City where our daughter got married 15 years ago has the bees incorporated into the design).

Well, I was confused as to why bees and industrial heritage were linked so had to look it up.

Worker bees!