Transport Secretary & Sheffield MP Louise Haigh pledges £1billion to improve bus services ahead of fare rise
Sheffield Heeley MP and Transport Secretary Louise Haigh has pledged to spend £1billion to ‘deliver better bus services,’ as part of what she has described as the bus revolution.
It comes as bus fares are set to rise by 50 per cent on the current cap.
The increase on the cap, which will see fares rise from £2 to £3, was announced in the Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ first budget on Wednesday, October 30, and will come into effect in 2025.
Detailing the £1billion plans to improve the country’s bus services, Ms Haigh said: “Buses are the engines of economic opportunity across the country.
“We know that reliable, affordable bus services are vital to keeping Britain moving. That’s why the government will cap fares at £3 for an additional year and provide over £1 billion to deliver better bus services.
“This will avoid a cliff-edge at the end of this year and keep fares affordable across the country – improving access to opportunities, particularly in towns and rural areas, while offering value for the taxpayer.
“Our bus revolution will give every community the power to take back control of their services, end the postcode lottery of services and turn the page on four decades of failed deregulation.”
Ms Haigh continued by saying the move will be introduced ahead of the new Better Buses Bill, which is set to be introduced later this parliamentary session.
It is hoped it will bring an end to what Ms Haigh describes as the ‘current postcode lottery of bus services’ by ‘empowering local authorities to deliver modern and integrated bus networks that put passengers at the heart of local decision making’.
According to the Sheffield Heeley MP, buses remain the most used form of public transport across the country, but ‘after almost four decades of failed deregulation – thousands of vital services have been slashed, with passengers left frustrated at the lack of accountability’.
Ms Heeley also claimed that the number of miles driven by buses has plummeted by around 300 million since 2010.
She says she hopes the ‘transformative work this government is doing will turn the tide by giving communities access to reliable and affordable services and the opportunity to have a real say in building local transport networks that work for them’.
The cap will mean 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. Local authorities and Metro Mayors can also fund their own schemes to keep fares down.
The cap is being funded by £151 million from the government until the end of 2025. It comes as the Department for Transport confirms an additional £925 million for the 2025 to 2026 financial year in a bid to improve bus services across the country, bringing total bus investment at the Budget to over £1 billion.
Local authorities can use the £925 million to introduce new bus routes, make services more frequent and protect crucial bus routes for local communities.
Moving forward, the government will also explore more targeted options that deliver value for money to the taxpayer to ensure affordable bus travel is always available for the groups who need it the most – such as young people.