Government takes ‘urgent’ action as fares hike to hit commuters | Personal Finance | Finance
The Government has pledged to act as thousands of Britons could see their bus fares increase in a few months.
The £2 bus fare cap is due to end on December 31, with the cap currently in place for many bus services across England.
Lib Dem Lord William Bradshaw asked the Government in Parliament what support it would offer the bus industry when the fare cap ends.
Lord Peter Hendy said in reply: “Delivering reliable and affordable public transport services for passengers is one of the Government’s top priorities and we know how important this is for passengers and for local growth.
“The Government is urgently considering the most effective and affordable ways to deliver on these objectives.”
The bus fare cap was introduced in January 2023 with the scheme extended several times. There were plans for it to rise to £2.50 but thi was changed so it would continue at £2 until the end of this year.
Some operators not included in the scheme may still cap their fares at £2 for passengers.
Previous figures showed the fare cap had helped cut fares in England outside London by 7.4 percent between June 2022 and June 2023.
People in rural areas enjoyed an 11 percent drop in fares during the same period thanks to the policy.
The bus fare cap does not apply in certain parts of the country where a fare cap is already in place, including London, Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire.
There have previously been calls for a cap to be brought in on regulated rail fares, as these usually go up in line with the July figure for Retail Price Index plus one percent.
This would mean a 4.6 percent increase in rail fares next year, while average wage growth is at 5.7 percent in the latest figures.
The previous Conservative Government suspended the RPI metric over the past two years, with a 4.9 percent increase this year despite an RPI figure of nine percent.
Ministers also brought in the increase on March 3 rather than at the start of the year, with the date for the yearly increase also moved to March permanently.
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