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

[RT4038]

Does this mean that West Yorkshire, Greater Manchester etc are now wasting their BSIP money on a scheme that is unnecessary?

They could have axed their schemes at the start of the year and then implemented the national scheme instead

I don't think this is the case - BSIP money is to be spent on items in the BSIP, and I think those Authorities had the fare cap in the BSIP, so Central Government were already funding the cap in this manner.

 

[javelin]

Does this mean that West Yorkshire, Greater Manchester etc are now wasting their BSIP money on a scheme that is unnecessary?

They could have axed their schemes at the start of the year and then implemented the national scheme instead

As noted above, it is all ultimately Central Government money. Cancelling the BSIP scheme would not lead to the government ponying up any more cash to extend the national scheme to these areas, effectively paying the CAs twice. Especially as this is how the CAs wanted to use the BSIP money in the first place.

 

[Deerfold]

Does this mean that West Yorkshire, Greater Manchester etc are now wasting their BSIP money on a scheme that is unnecessary?

They could have axed their schemes at the start of the year and then implemented the national scheme instead

I doubt they could. The national scheme was designed knowing a lot of routes were already covered by these schemes.

I suspect if they'd tried that, their BSIP funding would have been reduced accordingly.

 

[E-Rail]

If there was a political element to the fare cap (other than initially May's local elections, and now the Oct 2024 General Election), I would suspect that the plan may have been (and may still be) to replace ENCTS with a universal, all age fare cap.

 

[DDB]

So with it now being June has any bus company announced they will take part yet or even that they definitely won't?

 

[[.n]]

So with it now being June has any bus company announced they will take part yet or even that they definitely won't?

As one example I've seen First Wessex have announced on Twitter

Great news! Our open top Jurassic Coasters return for the summer this Sunday. For only a £2 single fare, you can go to Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove on the X50 or Abbotsbury, West Bay and Bridport on the X52.

 

[duncombec]

So with it now being June has any bus company announced they will take part yet or even that they definitely won't?

It's unlikely that many companies will have confirmed and received their settlements from the DfT yet.

I strongly suspect that was why the Go South Coast group marketing messages were removed - a case of the marketing team getting there a bit quick for the finances.

 

[Mikey C]

From the original announcement last September.

£2 bus fare cap across England to save passengers money

Government to provide up to £60 million from January to March next year, to help bus operators to cap single adult fares at £2 per journey.

www.gov.uk

That might have been the press release, but it doesn't mean that was the reason why it was introduced.

It certainly wasn't down to political pressure, as buses aren't a major news story. How many times have Labour at a national level spoken about buses, for example?

 

[JD2168]

So with it now being June has any bus company announced they will take part yet or even that they definitely won't?

First Sheffield & Doncaster on the most recent fare change says that the £2 max fare continues until end of October 2023.

 

[NorthernSpirit]

First Sheffield & Doncaster on the most recent fare change says that the £2 max fare continues until end of October 2023.

From Traveline...

Get Around for £2 by bus extended!
The bus fare cap has been extended for a second time to ensure travel remains ‘accessible and affordable for everyone’.
The £2 limit will stay in place for bus services outside London until 31 October, after which it will increase to £2.50. After that, this maximum fare will stay in place until 30 November 2024, when fares can be reviewed again.

Transport secretary Mark Harper said: ‘Taking the bus is the most popular form of public transport and millions of people rely on these vital services every day. That’s why we’re investing half a billion pounds to help people save money amid cost-of-living pressures and continue to level up transport in all parts of the country, doing our bit to help halve inflation and grow the economy.’

The Department for Transport (DfT) said the cap will especially benefit people on lower incomes, ‘who take nearly three times as many bus trips’ than those who earn more.
Mr Harper said the government will invest £200 million to extend the cap and another £300 million to support bus services until 2025.

Planning your journey
The Traveline journey planner will show you if your route is eligible, so why not plan your journey by bus today? Whether you are heading into town or looking to save on your commute – £2 single tickets will continue to run until 31 October 2023.

Some of the routes currently covered by the cap may change on 1 July 2023.
A full list of participating operators and eligible routes can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/2-bus-fare-cap. Please keep checking your services for updates?

https://www.traveline.info/2023/04/04/get-around-for-2-by-bus-extended/


As far as I'm aware this affects the National scheme, I'm not 100% sure if it will affect the Combined Authority BSIP funded scheme which is basically the same thing but managed differently.

 

[Hophead]

Stagecoach South are advertising that the £2 fare will continue until October though, when I click the "more info" link, nationwide publicity only commits to June.

 

[LottieLongLegs]

Plymouth Citybus have announced their extension to October 31st

Our offices are now closed and will reopen again at 0800 tomorrow.
We wish all our customers a fantastic evening.
You can still email us [email protected]
Travel for £2 single offer now extended to 31st October!
Enjoy a day out by bus with us!

https://twitter.com/plymouthbus/status/1666846361298382849?s=61&t=r5Z1kyWpS13Ylni-f4GddQ

 

[mikeg]

East Yorkshire are too announcing the continuation til October. A little concerned that my local operator , Arriva Yorkshire are conspicuous by their silence.

 

[Cesarcollie]

East Yorkshire are too announcing the continuation til October. A little concerned that my local operator , Arriva Yorkshire are conspicuous by their silence.

That’s a little odd, as no operator yet knows what reimbursement theyll be offered from DfT…….so I can understand Arriva‘s silence at this stage….

 

[Hassocks5489]

Is anybody aware at this stage of whether the cap will continue to apply on Transdev after 30th June, please? Apologies if I have missed an announcement here or elsewhere. I'm specifically thinking about a journey on the A2 Flyer route (Bradford-Harrogate). Many thanks.

 

[Deerfold]

Is anybody aware at this stage of whether the cap will continue to apply on Transdev after 30th June, please? Apologies if I have missed an announcement here or elsewhere. I'm specifically thinking about a journey on the A2 Flyer route (Bradford-Harrogate). Many thanks.

Transdev have made noises about continuing but they seem to have been before they knew what they'd get and they haven't yet confirmed anything so far as I know.

One example is here (from a month ago with no update I'm aware of):

£2 bus fare cap to be extended in Harrogate district until October - The Stray Ferret

Harrogate district bus companies are set to take part in an an extension of the £2 single fare cap to October.

thestrayferret.co.uk

£2 bus fare cap to be extended in Harrogate district until October

A spokesman for Transdev, which runs Harrogate Bus Company, said:

“We wish to participate in the extended arrangements announced today, and will confirm further details with our customers and colleagues shortly.”

 

[Hassocks5489]

Many thanks - I'll keep an eye on the situation before my trip.

 

[johncrossley]

I've been on a few buses outside London in the last few weeks and it doesn't seem to be helping journey times. For example, I went on the 705 from Bedford to Cambridge. I was wondering why there is a 5 minute wait in St Neots. I originally assumed it was for recovery time but it actually took more than that long to board everyone! Firstly it took ages for everyone to alight as not everyone could easily walk and there were pushchairs. Even though the tickets were all £2 it took ages to board everyone. It was only about 15 people.

 

[javelin]

Why would it help journey times?

What helps journey times is contactless pay as you go and therefore not having to interact with the driver at all.

 

[duncanp]

If there was a political element to the fare cap (other than initially May's local elections, and now the Oct 2024 General Election), I would suspect that the plan may have been (and may still be) to replace ENCTS with a universal, all age fare cap.

I really don't think that taking away people's free bus passes just before a general election is exactly going to be a vote winner.

I can't see the Labour party doing this if they win the general election.

What may happen is that the ENCTS passes are means tested, so that those who are better off can contribute a flat annual or monthly fee instead of getting their pass for free.

As the holder of an ENCTS disabled persons pass, I would be happy to pay something like £250 - £300 per year for a pass, but there are many people for whom this sort of money would make a real dent in their finances.

 

[johncrossley]

Why would it help journey times?

There was an argument that flat fares should speed up boarding. But the problem is the driver still wants to know the destination so it makes no difference, especially as it isn't actually flat fare but a capped fare, as some fares below £2 still exist.

What helps journey times is contactless pay as you go and therefore not having to interact with the driver at all.

That's obvious but many if not most people on this forum don't see boarding times as a major issue.

 

[GusB]

This is not a discussion about boarding times, nor is it for talking about the viability of concession schemes. Please remain on topic.

Thanks

 

[ThameslinkUser]

May have missed it, do we know if Go-Ahead's operations (such as Brighton and Hove/Metrobus) will be continuing their participation in the fare cap? The website is still advertising a conclusion in 2 weeks.

 

[jon0844]

Why would it help journey times?

What helps journey times is contactless pay as you go and therefore not having to interact with the driver at all.

It's quite slow to use a Ticketer machine, and my phone for some reasons seems to have the NFC chip quite low down - and with a near 7-inch display, it's actually not possible to put it on the 'reader' to pay, so I have to twist it at an angle. I've seen other people have similar issues, as it's not often that quick (it's pretty quick for bus passes) - and so even paying a nice and easy £2 flat fare takes far longer than it should (and the driver still needs to use the touchscreen to select a ticket type, or handle multiple users, before you pay).

I wonder if there's a newer design that presents the reader in a position more akin to Oyster readers, although I understand the design is so you can either use a phone, card or barcode ticket and it keeps the size down.

In order to remain on topic, I wonder if this scheme continues even beyond the £2.50 phase, there should be a software re-write on buses to facilitate faster boarding, as I think it is relevant to consider the increased journey times caused by delays in boarding/alighting, and it putting people off the bus after having a negative experience.

 

[markymark2000]

It's quite slow to use a Ticketer machine, and my phone for some reasons seems to have the NFC chip quite low down - and with a near 7-inch display, it's actually not possible to put it on the 'reader' to pay, so I have to twist it at an angle. I've seen other people have similar issues, as it's not often that quick (it's pretty quick for bus passes) - and so even paying a nice and easy £2 flat fare takes far longer than it should (and the driver still needs to use the touchscreen to select a ticket type, or handle multiple users, before you pay).

I wonder if there's a newer design that presents the reader in a position more akin to Oyster readers, although I understand the design is so you can either use a phone, card or barcode ticket and it keeps the size down.

In order to remain on topic, I wonder if this scheme continues even beyond the £2.50 phase, there should be a software re-write on buses to facilitate faster boarding, as I think it is relevant to consider the increased journey times caused by delays in boarding/alighting, and it putting people off the bus after having a negative experience.

It's been discussed many times about Ticketers dismal machines not being able to process quick contactless transactions. The issue is Ticketer just can't be bothered making the change and instead are pushing for releasing more and more data as operators are apparently not bothered about the slow contactless, they are more bothered about wanting shed loads of data. We will soon be tracked on buses as much, if not more than we are tracked online.

 

[HST43257]

Any further news on participation or not so for any routes/operators?

In this situation I take particular interest in Yorkshire Coastliner (who still say 30th June on their website as far as I can see) but country-wide info would be appreciated

 

[sk688]

National Express West Midlands has said it's reviewing continuing with the scheme, while simultaneously announcing fare rises.

Arriva Herts and Essex have also made similar vague statements which don't look promising

 

[mikeg]

Trawling through the open bus data as presented on bustimes.org some operators seem to set automatic date ranges for their fares. Of course some are completely missing and some services participating in the fare cap only show the shadow fares - for whatever reason.

But some operators that do this have a death date of end of October for the £2 single, whereas others are still saying end of June. Maybe this is a clue? Incidentally, both Arriva Yorkshire and Reliance are now showing October whereas Transfer Harrogate and District are stuck on June.

Back at my alma mater, First Potteries are part of the scheme but don't seem to show any £2 fares at any time - presumably they're accounted for differently? D & G seems to show end of June

Personally I wish more operators would take part but If this is even remotely accurate I still like it as it shows the Tories up whilst I still save on the majority of services I actually use.

 

[Andyh82]

Why would it help journey times?

What helps journey times is contactless pay as you go and therefore not having to interact with the driver at all.

I think a lot of people are still requesting tickets that they would usually buy which results in a conversation with the driver

I.E a day ticket which now is more than 2 singles which many people wouldn’t need, but previously acted as a return

Due to the fact the scheme and when it ends or changes is out of the operators hands, these day tickets are still prominent in publicity such as in timetables, posters etc

In regards to Ticketer, if paying by card it seems to vary by operator at what point you should put your card down.

 

[DDB]

This is getting ridiculous now. It is now less than a fortnight away and it appears that for the majority of users they don't know what the fares will be in July!
In fact have any bus companies actually publicly confirmed one way or the other?
What a farce. Which I assume is down to the government.
Is anyone with any inside knowledge from a bus company able to share what is going on from their end?