We know that users want simplicity in their fares, and that’s what the £2 gave. £2 to get there, £2 to get home - simple.
Passengers want simplicity, they want to know how much they will pay, and they don’t want to be bombarded with numerous different zones, ticket types, sales and options. We’ve seen this in Cornwall where fare simplification and price reduction have led to patronage rising year-on-year since 2022.
Before the national cap, what type of ticket you bought depended on the bus you were taking; sometimes it depended on how far you went, sometimes it all cost the same, sometimes you could only buy a ticket that allowed you to travel all day, and sometimes you were charged one fare for an hour of travel. The cap brought this lottery to an end. It also allowed a fare to be paid on contactless with limited interaction with the driver, making things easier for those who are less confident in travelling.
For many car users, who are the people we need to attract onto buses, the decision to use the bus comes down to cost alone. They ask, will the bus be cheaper than driving? But what they really ask is, is the bus cheaper than parking? Drivers undervalue the cost of car travel and that’s a big problem (but that’s one for another blog!).
When doing that calculation, two things favored the £2 cap:
Now, both of those things aren’t true.
Your postcode now determines how much you’ll pay for your bus. Several Combined Authorities have introduced their own fare cap when the national one increased, as the map below shows.
The retention of capped fares, so long as they’re consistent across the region, is commendable and will ensure that the residents of our largest city regions are, in many cases, protected from the new confusing mix of fares. This is great but, unfortunately, it means that there is an inequality in service offers between those who live in combined authority areas that apply the cap and those who don’t.
Equally, the fare cap at £3 means that longer journeys remain capped below their ‘market rate’ whereas shorter journeys, which most people make, are not capped.
You may now be thinking; you’ve raised a lot of issues, how are you going to solve them? Well, there may be a beacon of hope on the horizon: franchising.
Under the existing model, private operators independently set routes, fares, and timetables, leading to the fragmented system discussed above. The franchising powers currently working their way through parliament in the Bus Services Bill will enable local transport authorities to take control of bus services. The process of franchising paints a positive picture of fare simplification because there can be:
One only needs to look at the franchised networks in London and Manchester to see how franchising can simplify fares. Both cities offer a flat fare, valid for one hour and which can be combined with the wider public transport network – a world away from other regions.
Experts team Public transport planning
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