Fare Cap

[Ginger66]

£2 bus fare cap to be extended to 31st October 2023 then for 13 months afterwards at £2.50
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/2-bus-fare-cap

What the government needs to do is get people back into work full time. i'm hybrid working meaning 3 days on site two working from home. 

[markcf83]

What the government needs to do is get people back into work full time. i'm hybrid working meaning 3 days on site two working from home.

.....and ban working from home.....

[j789]

As has been discussed before, this is a good, common sense move that will now give operators the opportunity to plan ahead for the next couple of years with at least one cost pressure taken care of.

Hopefully, many operators will also take the chance, in November this year, to rebuild good faith with the public after the issues of missing trips and unreliability, etc, by keeping their fares at £2 beyond that date - that would generate very good publicity and increase chances of maintaining passenger number increases. 

[B61 ANDREW]

Good news all round. But I have found that many potential passengers are still unaware of it. 

[Tony]

I made use of it for the first time yesterday. Newcastle upon Tyne to Beamish, absolute bargain as a Go-Ahead bus ticket gets you 5 pounds off the admission fee! 

[Coventrybususer95]

Will nx still offer the 2.40 single like previous or will they up it by 10p to 2.50 inline with what the govt have said?

[Straightlines]

As has been discussed before, this is a good, common sense move that will now give operators the opportunity to plan ahead for the next couple of years with at least one cost pressure taken care of.

Except they won't... it will just kick the problem down the road and the begging bowl will come out in 2024 instead...

[Westy]

Will nx still offer the 2.40 single like previous or will they up it by 10p to 2.50 inline with what the govt have said?

Will they have to alter the £2.50 returns on Wa 31/32 as well?

[Stu]

Will nx still offer the 2.40 single like previous or will they up it by 10p to 2.50 inline with what the govt have said?

Will they have to alter the £2.50 returns on Wa 31/32 as well?

The government haven't said anything about increasing bus fares.

This just means that from November, the max fare cap rises to £2.50. It only applies to single journey fares, not returns.

Bus fares are expected to remain frozen until 2025, so all this means is that the price of a single ticket will revert back to £2.40. Therefore the fare capping scheme effectively ends in the West Midlands.

[the trainbasher]

.....and ban working from home.....

That's all well and good, but what about those who have to work from home due to medical conditions?

[j789]

Except they won't... it will just kick the problem down the road and the begging bowl will come out in 2024 instead...

Well would you rather those projected 15-20% of route cuts were made now then rather than giving it another 18 month to at least make some of them financially viable?

Also, this scheme has led to passenger increases, ask any major operator (by some accounts some areas quite significantly too). These returning/new passengers may just make those borderline services viable in the future. It's worth a shot as there is no alternative except large cuts in service which benefits no one.

[j789]

The government haven't said anything about increasing bus fares.

This just means that from November, the max fare cap rises to £2.50. It only applies to single journey fares, not returns.

Bus fares are expected to remain frozen until 2025, so all this means is that the price of a single ticket will revert back to £2.40. Therefore the fare capping scheme effectively ends in the West Midlands.

Unless of course the increase in paying passenger numbers from this scheme makes it viable to keep the fares at a flat £2. This probably isn't feasible for long distance or rural routes but urban areas could/should allow this hopefully.

[ellspurs]

The government haven't said anything about increasing bus fares.

This just means that from November, the max fare cap rises to £2.50. It only applies to single journey fares, not returns.

Bus fares are expected to remain frozen until 2025, so all this means is that the price of a single ticket will revert back to £2.40. Therefore the fare capping scheme effectively ends in the West Midlands.

How is the government subsidy working for this? Are the companies that are charging the most extortionate fares getting more in payment from the subsidy, or is it a set amount per service. Also, when the fares go up in November, does that mean that the TfWM region loses out on the money as their cap is lower than the government applied cap?

[Stu]

Unless of course the increase in paying passenger numbers from this scheme makes it viable to keep the fares at a flat £2. This probably isn't feasible for long distance or rural routes but urban areas could/should allow this hopefully.

I think that's unlikely to be honest, there have already been 'noises' from operators like Diamond about the viability of commercially-operated bus services, and NX are probably struggling too though less publicly.

Hopefully the scheme has been encouraging new bus users to travel more frequently, and those who make more than one journey a day have probably already found that a day ticket works out just as cheap, and its even better value for those contactless 'tap-and-go' users with fares capped at 3 and 5 day rates. If these 'new' bus users carry on using the bus, and encourage others they know to do the same, then the scheme has served its purpose here.

[Stu]

How is the government subsidy working for this? Are the companies that are charging the most extortionate fares getting more in payment from the subsidy, or is it a set amount per service. Also, when the fares go up in November, does that mean that the TfWM region loses out on the money as their cap is lower than the government applied cap?

I don't know exactly how the subsidy/funding structure works for this, but I do note Diamond's initial reluctance to participate due to concerns about remuneration.

Fares aren't increasing in November, just the cap amount set by the Government.

If the maximum single fare in the West Midlands is £2.40 (as set by TfWM), then it is logical to assume that West Midlands bus operators are no longer eligible for support funding if the Government increases the fare cap to £2.50.