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

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Runningaround

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How do find if buses are charging £2 when the single or return fare was cheaper before the ''maximum fare'' was introduced?
I'm pretty sure some fares were less than the £2 x 2 I paid for a single to and a single back and the returns just been taken away.
 
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Alex365Dash

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How do find if buses are charging £2 when the single or return fare was cheaper before the ''maximum fare'' was introduced?
Some bus services have fares in the open data - you can see these on bustimes.org if available by adding /fares onto the end of the URL for the route timetable.

Depending on the route and operator, some may show up differently - for example, First Essex 100’s post-cap singles are under Adult_Single whilst the pre-cap singles are under PC Adult Single, whilst First Solent’s X4 has pre-cap fares in the open data but not post-cap singles. Some might not have fare tables in the open data at all. (Most of Stagecoach I think?)
 

Man of Kent

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Go into the journey planner and it shows you. Hereford to Cardiff through journey, no changes. Cardiff to Hereford, it shows you change buses in Abergavenny between an X3 and X3.

If it was set up correctly, it would show the fare.
So it does. How unfortunate. I have however found the Service Update notice that confirms £2 fares exist on T14 and X3 in both directions.

https://www.stagecoachbus.com/servi...rticle?SituationId=ID-14/12/2022-13:06:34:027

The £2 Bus Fare Cap scheme has been launched by Department for Transport and the government’s Help for Households initiative.

From 1st January 2023 until 31st March 2023, customers travelling on services T14 & X3* getting on and off stops within England will pay £2 for an adult single ticket.

For more information click here.

*T&Cs: The £2 Single ticket is only available on the services listed above. No other Stagecoach South Wales services apply.




fare ticket updates Updated 20 Feb 2023, 15:02
 

Mcr Warrior

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Had occasion to travel on a couple of Arriva buses in Greater Manchester today, paying the £2 flat fare. Despite telling the drivers where I was wanting to travel to, the bus tickets were both issued only to the very next stop(s) after where I had boarded. Any reason for that?
 

Baxenden Bank

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Had occasion to travel on a couple of Arriva buses in Greater Manchester today, paying the £2 flat fare. Despite telling the drivers where I was wanting to travel to, the bus tickets were both issued only to the very next stop(s) after where I had boarded. Any reason for that?
Idleness. A common problem. In the past (pre Ticketer which knows where it is) I often received tickets from the first point on route to the last point on route despite boarding / alighting at neither. The price was the same, it only mattered to anyone analysing passenger usage to design networks / schedules. Although anyone expecting to pay under £2 may be miffed at being overcharged - if that is possible in that area.

Personally I have yet to benefit from the government's generosity. My fares so far all being at or under £2 anyway or the operator is not taking part in the scheme. Paid my £3.30 single to Cheadle this very morning.
 

stuu

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Has there been anything announced about how successful (or not) this has been?
 

Mikey C

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It would be nice to extend this to the end of August at least, to encourage more leisure travel by bus in the summer, and for the school holidays especially.
 

Llandudno

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I wonder if the current Tory government may continue the £2 bus scheme until after the next general election, likely to be Autumn 2024, then when the Labour Party takes over they will be faced with the issue of removing the scheme….?
 

DDB

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I wonder if the current Tory government may continue the £2 bus scheme until after the next general election, likely to be Autumn 2024, then when the Labour Party takes over they will be faced with the issue of removing the scheme….?
Or do they stop funding it once the May elections and blame the (likely Lib Dem Labour) councils for it ending when they can't afford it. I think it was only extended this time because otherwise loads of routes would be announced to be withdrawn just before the May elections.
 

johntea

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Interesting ‘quirk’ I’ve just noticed on the MCard app (West Yorkshire)

If you buy a single ticket and activate it you can actually hop on multiple buses within the 30 minute timer for £2

In fact it won’t even let you activate another single until the existing one expires!
 

Benjwri

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Interesting ‘quirk’ I’ve just noticed on the MCard app (West Yorkshire)

If you buy a single ticket and activate it you can actually hop on multiple buses within the 30 minute timer for £2

In fact it won’t even let you activate another single until the existing one expires!
This is present in pretty much every M-Ticket app. Many bus companies such as First Bus have cut down the time to 10 minutes to avoid this, but this is slightly problematic when their drivers like to pop off for food before letting anyone in
 
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I have been using Arriva much more than usual in the last few weeks. I had several hospital appointments and there is no way I am taking a car into the city; the £2 fares are great and so convenient, tap on tap off is fab too.

Plus I haven't my been charged for at least one of my journeys, possibly 2.
 
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Simon75

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A friends mum, who has been usin the bus more than before the £2, said to me unless it was extended again, she would use the bus less .
Wonder how common this would be ?
 

londonteacher

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A friends mum, who has been usin the bus more than before the £2, said to me unless it was extended again, she would use the bus less .
Wonder how common this would be ?
I know I would use the bus less. In Kent I could get a discovery ticket which is good value but short journeys that cost more than £2 but not much more in an Uber (if with others) would be more economical.

For example some local routes can be £5+, whereas an Uber is only about £15. For one person this is expensive, but for a group will be good value! Especially as it’s door to door, takes a more optimal route etc.
 

DDB

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I worry with fewer Conservative councils left the Conservative central government won't extend the scheme as they hope the councils will blamed when bus services are decimated with removal of the scheme.

How long is the notice period for withdrawal of services? If an operator thinks they need withdrawal services at the end of the scheme at 30th June when would they have to declare this? I am assuming when these notices start appearing that will force the government to state whether the scheme will continue or not.
 
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Benjwri

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How long is the notice period for withdrawal of services? If an operator thinks they need withdrawal services at the end of the scheme at 30th June when would they have to declare this? I am assuming when these notices start appearing that will force the government to state whether the scheme will continue or not.
28 days notice period to change a service, but it can be done with less notice sometimes
 

RogerOut

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The £2 scheme is a good thing. Also, where I am ,children can travel for free if they travel with someone using an adult ticket. Up to four children can travel free.
Even children can travel free with concessionary passes, who don’t even pay for their travel.

The scheme is undoubtedly costing lots of money, but I think it would be very hard to remove it.

Imagine telling people they now have to pay £5 for a ticket and pay for their children.

Had occasion to travel on a couple of Arriva buses in Greater Manchester today, paying the £2 flat fare. Despite telling the drivers where I was wanting to travel to, the bus tickets were both issued only to the very next stop(s) after where I had boarded. Any reason for that?

The driver simply didn’t change the destination on the ticket machine.

However, if an inspector got on they’d understand what had happened and wouldn’t say anything. I don’t worry about fare stages too much now, as it’s a flat fare.

However some fares are lower than £2,so if a passenger is only going a short distance, i check to see if it’s cheaper.

The trouble with a flat fare for all journeys like that, is on the rural journeys the number of gained passengers won't compensate for the lost revenue from the fare cuts. The end result will be services not being sustainable unless the government properly make up the difference and probably they are not going to do so.

This isn't going to be a problem with the urban routes, but the rural routes that only make a decent amount of money in morning peak and evening peak but carry mostly concessionary pass holders in between, the loss of valuable revenue from those could make the whole operation unviable of the route.

Yes that’s correct. I can’t see this being sustainable forever.
 
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Goldfish62

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28 days notice period to change a service, but it can be done with less notice sometimes
In England it's 70 days notice. 28 days prenotification to the local transport authority, plus 42 days notice to the traffic commissioner for the cancelled registration. The local authority may agree to less than 28 days for the prenotification period, but are not obliged to, and there are limited circumstances in which an operator may apply to reduce the 42 day deregistration notice period, but the TC has absolute jurisdiction whether to accept this. There are potential severe penalties for withdrawing services earlier.
 

johncrossley

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The government has been bankrolling buses for over three years now so have probably (finally) worked out that you cannot run a proper bus service without proper funding.
 

Goldfish62

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The government has been bankrolling buses for over three years now so have probably (finally) worked out that you cannot run a proper bus service without proper funding.
I think they have, but whether they want to or whether the Treasury will let them provide proper funding is quite another matter.
 

JKP

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28 days notice period to change a service, but it can be done with less notice sometimes
It is 70 days notice to start, change or cancel a registration for a bus service. 28 days to the local authority and 42 days to the Traffic Commissioner. Dispensation can be given for less than the statutory period but often depends on circumstances.
 

Man of Kent

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28 days notice period to change a service, but it can be done with less notice sometimes
Not quite. 28 days' notice to the Local Transport Authority, then 42 days' notice to the Traffic Commissioner. The TCs are less forgiving on short notice applications these days, but providing you have good relations with your LTA, this can be reduced to as little as a few hours.
 

RT4038

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Not quite. 28 days' notice to the Local Transport Authority, then 42 days' notice to the Traffic Commissioner. The TCs are less forgiving on short notice applications these days, but providing you have good relations with your LTA, this can be reduced to as little as a few hours.
However, your good relations with the LTA are likely to be strained if you were asking for the 28 days top be waived for a major service cut......
 

Leedsbusman

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Not quite. 28 days' notice to the Local Transport Authority, then 42 days' notice to the Traffic Commissioner. The TCs are less forgiving on short notice applications these days, but providing you have good relations with your LTA, this can be reduced to as little as a few hours.
Not at the moment. 42 days is reduced to 28 effectively:

 

Baxenden Bank

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Not at the moment. 42 days is reduced to 28 effectively:

That's all very well but the only dates which really matter to the passenger is how much notice they get of the specific details of the changes, so they can plan accordingly. Anyone can pour over the VOSA website on a daily basis if they wish but as it only gives vague information 'revised timetable' or 'cancellation' it's as much use as a chocolate fireguard.

The 56 days (England, currently 28 as per article), that is after the Transport Authority has its 28 days consultation period, is the date on which the full timetable should be made available to the public. Delay to publication should mean an equal delay to the introduction of the revised timetable, genuine emergencies excepted.
 
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