£2 Price Cap on fares in England - Now extended beyond October 2023

[DDB]

Nottingham City transport as well.

https://www.nctx.co.uk/nottingham-c...nment-ps2-bus-fare-cap-until-end-october-2023

 

[156421]

If anyone is reporting that their local company is extending their £2 scheme, please include a link to the relevant website (along with a quote). It would be appreciated if the most recent posts are edited accordingly.

Thanks

I tried briefly but couldn't find anything on the fairly useless website (mobile browser). https://twitter.com/PoonamMcpoo/status/1672220493552705536?t=SvAKj0M0niCVm5eXpCtdsg&s=19 this tweet thread is the only evidence I can provide.

 

[abn444]

Morebus have announced they're staying with it

Great news the £2 fare continues all summer long

Find out full details about the £2 fare cap

www.morebus.co.uk

It's great news for bus passengers in our region as the Government has announced that the £2 fare cap will continue until 31 October 2023.

Here at more bus we signed up to the Department for Transport (DfT) scheme which is part of the Help for Households initiative - which restricts the cost of a single bus fare - at the beginning of the year. The fare cap was originally set to end on 31 March 2023 but has now been extended for the second time to the end of October 2023.

 

[Edvid]

Reading Buses and Uno are sticking with it.

£2 maximum single fare

Now extended until Tuesday 31 October 2023!

www.reading-buses.co.uk

We are excited to announce that we will be continuing to offer £2 single fares across our network until Tuesday 31 October.

Providing great value, £2 singles fares will be valid on all journeys across the Reading Buses, Thames Valley Buses, Green Line 702/703 and Newbury & District networks - with the only exceptions being on football buses and buses allocated for school travel.

Part of the government's help for households initiative, the scheme is designed to help families, commuters and other passengers continue to save money this summer, backed by £60 million of government investment. We are one of over 130 bus companies across England taking part.

The scheme also seeks to encourage more commuters on buses and help to reduce emissions and congestion by taking an estimated 2 million cars off the roads.

how does it work?
It's quite simple really! Until October, the maximum single fare you can pay on our buses will be £2* - this ticket will be available on our app or from the driver on bus. This fare is applicable from anywhere to anywhere on a single journey - so you could get from Reading to Newbury, Bracknell to Wokingham or even from Slough to London for just £2!

The ticket is available on the Reading Buses, Newbury & District, Green Line and Thames Valley apps alongside our other great value fares.

Any tickets purchased on our app before our announcement of the extension of the scheme will be automatically extended to expire on Tuesday 31 October.

Travel often and want to save even more? In the simplyReading area you can buy an easysaver10 (10 single tickets bought together) for just £17 which is just £1.70 per trip! And our range of period tickets (7/30/90/365 day) may represent even better value if you travel more than five days a week or on multiple buses.

*except football and school buses

£2 max single fare | Uno

www.unobus.info

We're offering reduced-price travel thanks to a government funded Help for Households initiative, which has now been extended until 31 October 2023.

All single fares will be capped at just £2, valid on any of our buses however far you are travelling. All fares that are already £2 or less, and all our day, week and month passes, remain at their normal prices.

You'll be able to buy these special discounted tickets:

• On the bus - pay cash or contactless
• On our mobile - search Uno buses in your app store

 

[Mgameing123]

Carousel is: https://www.carouselbuses.co.uk/two-pounds

Take the bus any time between 1st January and 31st October 2023, and you'll only pay £2 for any local bus journey.
Until 31st October 2023, the Government are funding a cap of £2 on all adult single bus tickets to support families through cost of living pressures.

This means that you can travel on any of our Carousel and PickMeUp services at any time of the day (excluding the airline) for just £2.

A few 'short hop' single and return fares will remain less than £2, so you will not pay any more than usual for your journey.

Please note that the majority of school day services are excluded. The £2 fare will not be available on the Carousel 5 and BB12 services.

 

[Silver Cobra]

No official announcement from Stagecoach East (Cambridge/Bedford/Peterborough/Huntingdon) so far, but while I was purchasing a £2 fare for travel to Bedford this morning I spotted that the end date for the scheme in the T&C's for the fare had been updated to 31st October (it still said 30th June when I last checked it on Tuesday). So for now it seems they have unofficially committed to staying in the scheme until the end of October. I'll update when an official announcement is made.

**EDIT: Saying that, I checked the T&C's again, and it seems they reference all Stagecoach services outside of central London, Manchester and Merseyside. So with that I would assume that all Stagecoach OpCo's are committed until 31st October unless any have said otherwise.

 

[Edvid]

Arriva are staying with the scheme too.

Arriva Bus

www.arrivabus.co.uk

Whether you’re heading to work or popping into town, until 31st October a single bus journey will cost no more than £2.
Ready to travel? You can buy your £2 single ticket on the Arriva UK Bus app or on board with cash or your contactless card or device.

You can also find full details of your service in our Arriva UK Bus app, which is free to download from the Apple App Store and Google Play, or you can use the journey planner on this page. Simply put in your location and destination and it will give you all the buses available at the time chosen.

 

[Silver Cobra]

Stagecoach Group have now officially confirmed that all English OpCo's are continuing with the scheme until 31st October 2023.

Stagecoach confirms its ongoing participation in the £2 fare scheme and extends competition to win a year’s free travel! - Stagecoach Group

Stagecoach Group News Releases

www.stagecoachgroup.com

Stagecoach announced today (June 29) that it is extending its offer of a maximum fare of just £2 for a single bus journey in England. The offer, part of the Bus Fare Cap scheme, has been extended until the end of October – meaning more people can join the 38 million Stagecoach bus passengers who have already taken advantage of the new £2 single fares since their launch in January 2023.

...

The £2 offer, part of the Government’s Help for Households campaign, has helped bus customers save money but has also boosted local economies and communities. 23% of Stagecoach surveyed £2 single ticket customers said they were making trips they wouldn’t otherwise have made, showing how public transport boosts local economies and supports businesses. A similar proportion of customers reported they had switched some journeys from private vehicles to the bus, taking cars off the road, helping to reduce congestion and improve air quality for everyone.

Ray O’Toole, Executive Chairman for Stagecoach said: “We are delighted that the £2 fare offer has been extended until the end of October, giving more people the chance to see where the bus can take them.

“With summer now here, there’s never been a better time to try the bus. Around 10 million people in England live within walking distance of one of our bus stops, so we’re hoping that people will take the opportunity to get out of their cars and give the bus a try for the bargain price of just £2 for a single ticket.”

The nationwide scheme in England is running in addition to other local fare schemes already in place, such as those in Greater Manchester and Merseyside, which Stagecoach is delivering in partnership with local Mayoral authorities in these areas.

The T&C's for the £2 fares in the Stagecoach app also hint that the company could be committing to remaining in the scheme after 31st October when the fare increases to £2.50 until 30th November 2024.

 

[Deerfold]

Carousel is: https://www.carouselbuses.co.uk/two-pounds

They get a prize for most confusing sentence that's trying to say it doesn't include dedicated school services:

Please note that the majority of school day services are excluded. The £2 fare will not be available on the Carousel 5 and BB12 services.

If I didn't know better, I'd think that meant the £2 fare was only available on weekends and school holidays (and I know of fares that have worked like that on two different bus companies).

 

[jkkne]

As expected with the rest of the group confirming, Go North East also extending the cap to October

£2 fare cap on all our local bus services

Take the bus and you'll pay only £2 for any local bus journey until October 2023.

www.gonortheast.co.uk

 

[James H]

I was surprised to find today that the Kent County Council services run by Hams Travel are not in the cap. Bit of a shock to be charged more than £4 for a fairly short journey!

 

[Man of Kent]

I was surprised to find today that the Kent County Council services run by Hams Travel are not in the cap. Bit of a shock to be charged more than £4 for a fairly short journey!

The only two independents participating in Kent are Chalkwell and First Bus Stop (the latter only running school buses).

Most say they were put off by the amount of detail that had to be submitted to join in the first place, along with a continuning supply of information thereafter, and the impact on their cashflow. The change from half fares to free OAP travel, a similar concession scheme within Kent for children plus payment by contactless have all taken their toll, and one independent told me that they have to have an overdraft just because of the lag that now occurs in getting paid afterwards rather than at the time of travel.

 

[geoffk]

The only two independents participating in Kent are Chalkwell and First Bus Stop (the latter only running school buses).

Most say they were put off by the amount of detail that had to be submitted to join in the first place, along with a continuing supply of information thereafter, and the impact on their cashflow. The change from half fares to free OAP travel, a similar concession scheme within Kent for children plus payment by contactless have all taken their toll, and one independent told me that they have to have an overdraft just because of the lag that now occurs in getting paid afterwards rather than at the time of travel.

It's been the case for some years that the Treasury under-reimburses local authorities for the ENCTS concessionary pass. The Local Government Association claimed recently that local councils were being asked to plug a £450 million gap in central funding for the scheme. The same is likely to be the case for the £2 fare cap. Operators are paid in arrears so many, particularly the smaller ones, will have a cash-flow problem.

 

[F Great Eastern]

The only two independents participating in Kent are Chalkwell and First Bus Stop (the latter only running school buses).

Most say they were put off by the amount of detail that had to be submitted to join in the first place, along with a continuning supply of information thereafter, and the impact on their cashflow. The change from half fares to free OAP travel, a similar concession scheme within Kent for children plus payment by contactless have all taken their toll, and one independent told me that they have to have an overdraft just because of the lag that now occurs in getting paid afterwards rather than at the time of travel.

One independent in the North told me that the DfT have a clear lack of understanding about the differences between urban city services run by larger operators and rural bus services run by smaller ones and the economics and operations of such services.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

One independent in the North told me that the DfT have a clear lack of understanding about the differences between urban city services run by larger operators and rural bus services run by smaller ones and the economics and operations of such services.

The local country route round here has a lot more people on it than it did but previously most were concessions anyhow so at least they get an initial £2 then presumably claim the difference for the original fare or does it not work that way?

 

[Starmill]

One independent in the North told me that the DfT have a clear lack of understanding about the differences between urban city services run by larger operators and rural bus services run by smaller ones and the economics and operations of such services.

I think that this is a serious issue, agreed. Using the Fare Cap Grants to partially (or in the future wholly) replace the covid transitional support funding is fraught for this reason. It's not bad for the large groups but it's far less useful to small operators or those relying on funding via local authorities. The Department seem to think their one size fits all policy offers a "level playing field" in terms of subsidies but that's certainly not the effect in practice.

 

[Mikey C]

I was surprised to find today that the Kent County Council services run by Hams Travel are not in the cap. Bit of a shock to be charged more than £4 for a fairly short journey!

I had the same "shock" today, on a rural service in Hertfordshire run by Richmonds, when I was charged the princely sum of £3!

 

[robbob700]

At the Tory Party Conference, the Prime Minister has just announced that the £2 fare cap will be continuing beyond October 31st.

 

[Mikey C]

Good news for passengers, though it means that all the publicity that bus companies have been giving out about the rise to £2.50 is wasted.

It would be interesting to see some proper analysis of the effects of this scheme. Has it increased ridership, or just given existing passengers a cheaper journey?

 

[ALEMASTER]

At the Tory Party Conference, the Prime Minister has just announced that the £2 fare cap will be continuing beyond October 31st.

The £2 rail replacement bus... (HS2 cancelled north of Birmingham!)

To be honest I'd favour keeping the increase to £2.50 and spending the extra funding on saving services facing the axe due to local authorities no longer being able to afford existing tendered network with rising costs of operation.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

The £2 rail replacement bus... (HS2 cancelled north of Birmingham!)

To be honest I'd favour keeping the increase to £2.50 and spending the extra funding on saving services facing the axe due to local authorities no longer being able to afford existing tendered network with rising costs of operation.

What would have been better is a more proportionate charging system. In Surrey you can go a couple of stops for £1.70 then it jumped upto £3, so I never used the bus but now it's £2 I do. It's also daft that people, if they have the time, can go vast distances for £2; it doesn't seem sensible and I wonder if it's abstracting rail revenue in places.

 

[markymark2000]

To be honest I'd favour keeping the increase to £2.50 and spending the extra funding on saving services facing the axe due to local authorities no longer being able to afford existing tendered network with rising costs of operation.

I think a 2 fare cap may have been better because for the urban routes, the £2 cap is the best thing and does encourage local travel. For rural or interurban routes though, £2.50 seems more fair and will help with viability as well as you say, mean some more funding can go towards tendered services (though given how the government is, it will become a pot of money that everyone has to bid for and then likely end up with loads of authorities without).

 

[Qwerty133]

I think a 2 fare cap may have been better because for the urban routes, the £2 cap is the best thing and does encourage local travel. For rural or interurban routes though, £2.50 seems more fair and will help with viability as well as you say, mean some more funding can go towards tendered services (though given how the government is, it will become a pot of money that everyone has to bid for and then likely end up with loads of authorities without).

I think if anything urban journeys can be more expensive than those elsewhere as passengers typically only require a single route to get to their destination in urban areas but elsewhere people regularly need to connect so are already paying twice as much.
At the same time it probably would make sense to remove some routes that aren’t really designed for local travel from the scheme entirely, as long as customers making local journeys continue to have options that are covered.

 

[DDB]

The rise to £2.50 would perhaps been the start of an exit route unless the government intends this to be permanent in which case it should say so. What I'm sure the industry doesn't want and neither do passengers is the constant uncertainty every six months.
In the meantime more and more local authorities are going to go bust and so all local government support will disappear.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The rise to £2.50 would perhaps been the start of an exit route unless the government intends this to be permanent in which case it should say so. What I'm sure the industry doesn't want and neither do passengers is the constant uncertainty every six months.
In the meantime more and more local authorities are going to go bust and so all local government support will disappear.

£2 can't really be permanent, as there's inflation to deal with.

A national flat fare scheme seems quite a good idea* in terms of attracting passengers, but it would need to contain an inflationary mechanism, e.g. increasing by RPI rounded down to the nearest 10p each year. Because most fares are now paid by card, that it isn't a round number no longer matters, and it'd make bus operation quicker if London style tap in could be implemented everywhere for those paying by card or device.

* I'd prefer proper integration, but if a bus ride after my train ride is just £2 then it barely really matters, it's such a small sum. A national £4 or £5 daily cap would be nice to avoid being heavily disadvantaged for changes of bus.

 

[jon0844]

As more councils start to look into tap on, tap off pricing - I expect the logical conclusion is a daily cap. That would then allow fares to rise for single journeys, or for the £2/2.50 cap to be axed entirely.

The problem is the daily cap could then be set too high, or increase too much, so as to eradicate the benefits. It would need to work across operators and counties, so I have no idea how effective such plans will be - or the expected timeframes given how slow the industry seems to work.

 

[Haywain]

The problem is the daily cap could then be set too high, or increase too much, so as to eradicate the benefits. It would need to work across operators and counties, so I have no idea how effective such plans will be - or the expected timeframes given how slow the industry seems to work.

Best stick to a fares cap then.

 

[jon0844]

Best stick to a fares cap then.

If they can afford to do this, fine, but at some point we'll see the money run out to fund it - and likely this will lead to the cutting of services. Just as the silly way the bus passes are funded has caused the same result, as operators end up out of pocket.

 

[Deerfold]

The biggest problem I've seen is on operators who've been very successful at moving ticketing off-bus, a lot has moved back on bus as many passengers do two trips a day which isn't usually enough for a period ticket (I've gone from having about 70% of my tickets pre-bought on an app, the rest paid to the driver to around 10% pre-bought).

 

[Bletchleyite]

The biggest problem I've seen is on operators who've been very successful at moving ticketing off-bus, a lot has moved back on bus as many passengers do two trips a day which isn't usually enough for a period ticket (I've gone from having about 70% of my tickets pre-bought on an app, the rest paid to the driver to around 10% pre-bought).

This may be so, but London tap-on is very, very fast, much faster than faffing about scanning barcodes on Ticketer. If this is long term, and if the reimbursement could be reworked to be based on surveys instead of needing to know the length of every journey, then this is clearly the way forward.