The new £2 flat bus fare 28 September 2022 at 5:59PM in Public transport & cycling 5 replies 213 views

tofu-eater_3

Does anybody know where I could look up the rules and regulations for the £2 bus fare cap? I got on a local bus today which is one which I often use and asked the driver for a £2 single ,the driver then asked me where I needed to go with the single,told me I could only make a local journey for the £2 fare and then reeled off various different prices for a single according to where I needed to go and which zone it crossed. Is it a capped single fare at £2 or is it not? A 'cap on single fares' surely means exactly that ....all the various single fares have got a cap on them and don't go over £2 surely? It's not 'the fare is capped for this local journey and then if you go further it's more' is it? I tried to find some more information about the rules on the 'gov' website ,but I couldn't find anything. I looked up a few different articles online ,one article seemed to be talking about changes to bus fares in October (2022) and saying that it would be £2 for local AND regional single fares and that you could potentially travel up to 80 miles with the £2 ticket. I had been looking forward to doing some excursions taking advantage of the £2 ticket and now I'm wondering if I will be able to.

JGB1955

I've never heard of a capped £2 fare.  Sounds like something local to you (which probably has rules and restrictions - e.g. after 09:30, within a certain zone). It wouldn't make commercial sense for you to be able to travel from (e.g. Aylesbury to London) for £2.

JGB1955

OK - quick google - it's (supposedly) from January to March NEXT year AND currently Manchester and West Yorkshire....Bus fare cap: England charges to be held at £2 for three months - BBC News

tofu-eater_3

Aha!...........ok ,so,I'm in Bristol , I think it might be that the proper £2 capped fares ,that is local AND regional single fares for £2,will only start in January 2023 for three months and then some local bus operators (including Bristol) have opted to join in partially with the scheme from now (September 2022) 

jbuchanangb

In Merseyside I have seen buses with their destination boards announcing £2 fares to anywhere in the Liverpool City Region. I think this is reduced from £2.30. As a holder of an ENCTS pass I am not affected unless I travel before 9.30am weekdays.

tofu-eater_3

Unfortunately ,the buses in Bristol recently changed their flat single fares (local journeys) to £2 ,the single fares were £2.20 anyway ,so it is only a saving of 20p , in a clever bit of marketing ,and in their usual style ,First bus in Bristol then used this to  do a bit of a cover up when they announced at the same time that a one day ticket was now going to be 70p more ,a one day ticket in Bristol is now a shocking £6 !!!!!