Bristol Greens demand rise in bus fare cap to £3 is scrapped

Greens in Bristol are demanding that the Labour government reverses its decision to raise the £2 bus fare cap to £3. Easville ward Cllr Ed Fraser has tabled a motion to a full council meeting on Tuesday, November 12, condemning the hike and calling on the region’s transport authorities – the West of England Combined Authority (Weca) and North Somerset Council – to reallocate cash to maintain the current single-journey prices.

The £2 cap was scrapped in Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves’ first Budget last week to help plug a £22billion “black hole” in the nation’s finances. Instead, fares will increase by 50 per cent from January 1 to December 31, 2025.

In his motion, Cllr Fraser said that despite this, fuel duty was frozen for a 15th consecutive year. He said: “Bus fares have risen at a comparatively higher rate than motoring costs or rail fares, despite the net economic benefits that investment in bus services provides, with every £1 of investment leading to an estimated £4.50 in economic benefit, vastly outweighing the Budget savings that lifting the cap claims to provide.

“Raising the cap while continuing to freeze fuel duty sends the wrong message from a government that claims to be committed to modal shift. Raising the cap to £3 and scrapping it entirely from late 2025 could have a detrimental effect on bus services and could result in the reduction or loss of routes.”

Cllr Fraser said the £2 cap was encouraging bus travel and that the government and Weca should be prioritising measures like that. His motion asks Bristol City Council to condemn the Chancellor’s decision and request that the transport and connectivity policy committee chairman writes to her asking her to reverse it and maintain the current cap throughout this parliament.

It also calls on the committee chairman to ask West of England Labourmetro mayor Dan Norris and North Somerset Council Lib Dem leader Cllr Mike Bell to consider reallocating unspent government funding from the £106million Bus Service Improvement Plan, awarded in 2013, to maintain the £2 cap. The motion is unlikely to be debated because of time constraints.

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First Bus has said it has not made many decisions on the price of a single journey. In a written statement to parliament on Tuesday, October 29, the day before the Budget, Transport Secretary Louise Haigh said the £3 cap was part of more than £1billion of government investment in buses.

She said the £2 cost of single trips had been due to finish at the end of this year under the previous Conservative government’s plans to cancel the funding. Ms Haigh said the new cap would “ensure millions of people can access affordable bus fares and better opportunities all over the country”.

She said: “This will particularly benefit passengers in rural communities and towns and will save passengers up to 80 per cent on some routes. We are providing funding of over £150million to enable the introduction of the cap.

“This is part of a £1billion funding boost for buses 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.”