19.12.2022

Bus fares will be capped at £2 to ease cost of living

Access to services News Rural Transport isolation Rural Vulnerability cost of living

The BBC reports that more than 130 bus operators outside London will begin capping single adult fares at £2 next month as part of a government-funded scheme to help people save money

National Express and Stagecoach will be among those to introduce the cap in England from 1 January to 31 March.

Single local bus fares in England cost £2.80 on average but can exceed £5 in rural areas, the government says.

The Department for Transport, which originally announced the scheme in September, said buses were the most popular form of public transport in England, making up half of all journeys.

It said the government was spending £60m on the cap to "help families, students and commuters" while taking "two million car journeys off the road".

According to latest official figures, the number of people travelling by bus has been rising but remains well below pre-Covid levels.

At the same time local bus fares in England were up 4.2% in the three months to 30 June when compared with the same period last year.

The government says the scheme will help the bus industry's recovery, while also enabling passengers to save.

It also said the cap was "an important step" in ensuring passengers got a fair deal.

Full article:

The BBC - More than 130 bus operators to offer £2 tickets

RSN Comment:

Whilst the £2 may be welcomed by bus users, for those living in rural areas without regular bus routes, it does nothing to help them in the cost of living crisis.

Recent research commissioned by the Rural Services Network into the cost of living crisis in rural areas, found that transport has the largest disparity between household expenditure in rural and urban areas. Due to a lack of public transport, rural households take more trips, and travel greater distances by car / van.

Rural households are hit by the triple whammy of lower than average wages earned in rural areas, higher transport costs and higher energy costs in often harder to heat homes. Initiatives from the Government such as this to reduce transport costs for people and removing cars from the road, will not help those in rural areas unable to access rural public transport.