All local and regional bus journeys in England are to be capped at £2 from this October in an effort to help curb the cost of living crisis. The cap will last for six months, according to The Mirror, to cut the cost of travel during autumn and winter.
The bargain rates will also include long-hail cross-country trips of up to 80 miles and lasting more than three hours. No.10's decision is intended to address a long-standing issue of rural bus travel being more expensive and less frequent than in London.
A source told The Times: “The value of an eye-catching initiative like a £2 flat fare is that the government can really get behind it and say ‘We are helping you over the winter’.”
But the cap will not apply to long-distance coach services, and travel in Scotland and Wales is not included. Some bus operators welcome the idea of a cap but are concerned that it will be difficult to withdraw the low prices when the scheme comes to an end next April.
Stephen Joseph, a transport consultant and a visiting professor at Hertfordshire University, said: “The risk is that we’ll have cheap fares, but not enough buses for people to ride.”
The Department for Transport said in a statement: “We’ve already committed to investing £3billion in bus services by 2025, to improve fares, services and infrastructure, and given nearly £2bn since March 2020 to bus operators and local authorities to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic.”
