Statement to Parliament: National bus fare cap

Published: 29 October 2024
By Chris Haycock

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In his pre-budget speech on Monday 28 October 2024, the Prime Minister confirmed that single bus fares will be limited at £3 until the end of 2025, as part of more than £1 billion to be invested in buses.

The current £2 cap on single bus fares had been due to come to an end on 31 December 2024. Under the plans of the previous administration, funding for the current cap on bus fares had been due to expire at the end of 2024.

From 1 January 2025 through to the end of December 2025, we will introduce a new single fare cap at £3 to ensure millions of people can access affordable bus fares and better opportunities all over the country. This will particularly benefit passengers in rural communities and towns and will save passengers up to 80% on some routes.

The cap means no single bus fare on routes included in the scheme will exceed £3 and routes where fares are less than £3 will only be allowed to increase by inflation in the normal way so that some fares will remain below £3. The fare cap will help millions access better opportunities and promote greater use by passengers.

We are providing funding of over £150 million to enable the introduction of the cap. This is part of a £1 billion funding boost for buses, which will be set out at the budget to help local areas deliver high quality, reliable bus services and protect the vital routes that so many people rely on. Improving the reliability and number of services and routes is essential to encouraging more people to use buses.

Buses are the engines of economic opportunity across the country. Our bus revolution and new Buses Bill will give every community the power to take back control of their services, improve the reliability of services and turn the page on four decades of failed deregulation.