The Government have announced that All single bus fares in the whole of England will be capped at a maximum of £2 for the period of January 1st to March 31st 2023, this has now been extended to 30th June 2023, and this company will continue to be part of the scheme until that date.
I can now give you some more information on the scheme.
Firstly some bad news - No school day only services are eligible for the scheme so if the service you use runs on school days only then you will continue to pay the current fares.
Services that will be included in the scheme are as follows:
1 – 2 – 3 – 5 – 6/X6 – 6A – 8 – 9 – 11 – 16 – 17 – 18 ( except schoolday only journeys ) – 19 – 20 – 23 – 24 – 25 – 27 – 28 – 34 – 42 – 43 – 44 – 44A/X44 - 45 – 45A - 46 – X55 – 98 - 210 – CH1 – CH2
It is only available on single fares so if you currently pay a £6 return fare you will need to switch to buying a £2 single on both the outward and return journey.
There is no discount on the fare cap fare of £2 it will apply to all fare groups i.e Adult - 16 to 19 - Child and OAP before 09.30.
If you travel using a weekly ticket you will also need to work out for yourself whether it will be cheaper to buy a £2 ticket everytime you board or continue to buy the current weekly ticket.
All fares under £2 will not be affected by this scheme and will remain as current.
On July 1st 2023 bus fares will return to their normal levels but I need to advise that March 1st is the date that we normally review our fares and with inflation as high as it is it is inevitable the fares from July 1st will be higher than they currently are.
We will advise in advance of this date the likely increase based on fuel and other costs over the next few months.
We thank you for your continued support of our services and look forward to serving you for many years to come.
Charles Sanders.