Bus fares up 50% from today.

In Bristol, the price has gone up to £2.50 only. 🙏

Effing b's what next. Public won't be able to afford to get to work to pay the bills . It makes me wild. When's it all going to stop.

Buses are still far cheaper than running a car. Just not so convenient.

Here in the West Mid though, buses are very regular and I use them more than I use the car now.

Cambia

We live in a rural area so no buses at all! It’s a real treat to go to town and use my bus pass on the park and ride which seems very reasonable at just under £3 for two of us as opposed to £3 per hour parking charges.

We have no buses either! They started a Digigo service, but they rarely have any buses available, and if you manage to book one, more often than not the return one doesn't turn up to take anybody home. Result - Expensive taxi fares.

We live in a rural area so no buses at all! It’s a real treat to go to town and use my bus pass on the park and ride which seems very reasonable at just under £3 for two of us as opposed to £3 per hour parking charges.

I don't use the bus.

Considering the much greater cost of bus transport a few years ago £2 was a steal, as is £3 now, At least it’s not reverted back to the bad old much pricier days.

We don't have the cap in Scotland, so I think many Scottish commuters between the ages of 22 and 60 would be jealous of your cap, even at £3! It is encouraging to see more young people using our buses though, since they can have a bus pass until they are 22.

I agree with Doodledog (12:00:09 today) that free buses for all, or a subsidised annual pass at the least, would be a good thing. It would be more of an incentive to get people out of their cars.

Manchester is advising other areas who would also like to take their own bus service under local control. These things can be achieved if the political will is there. I think one problem that is inventing barriers is that some Conservatives still see traveling on a bus as a sign of failure, as per Mrs Thatcher.

TillyTrotter

I would rather pay 25p to ride a bus into the city than have a Free bus pass if it meant younger workers would not have to shoulder this increase.

Yes I’d be happy to contribute annually for my business pass, I use it when going to the cinema or theatre as it avoids the parking charges.
But, as obvious by some of the comments, people do expect things to be available without paying and are shocked by increases.

There will also be Another energy rise this month too, so a double blow for average/low paid workers.

I agree percentage wise it is a big increase but still, it is cheap at the price.

By comparison My DiL pays over £7,000 annually for her train fare to work plus £6 a day parking, She has to commute 40 miles as housing closer to London is completely unaffordable. To her a journey costing £4 would be fantastic. Yes she is earning more than the minimum wage but her commute is a huge amount out of her income yet no subsidies are offered to train commuters.

We will not reduce car usage unless a well run, not for profit transport system were to be introduced and that requires planning for the future which our governments seem unable to do. European countries manage it why can’t we? When I worked in The Netherlands, few people drove to work and the majority walked, cycled or travelled by efficient, cheap, frequent, subsidised public transport of trams , buses and trains.

Maggiemaybe

Allira

DGC's bus fares (UK) cost £200 per month for 2 children to get to school and college before the price rise.
That's a big hole in a family budget.

Is that for passes for specific buses to get to and from the school and college? DGS1 has to have one of those, mainly because the local buses are so unreliable that he’d rarely get to school on time if he used them.

His bus pass costs over £900 a year, and only covers the cost of the 20 minute journey to school and back. If he has an after school activity he’s to pay on the buses home. If he could do the journey on public transport it’d cost £390 for an annual bus pass he could use countywide at any time.

One is for the public transport, the other for a school bus as many of the children are outside the county boundary but it's the nearest school.

I would rather pay 25p to ride a bus into the city than have a Free bus pass if it meant younger workers would not have to shoulder this increase.

Allira

DGC's bus fares (UK) cost £200 per month for 2 children to get to school and college before the price rise.
That's a big hole in a family budget.

Is that for passes for specific buses to get to and from the school and college? DGS1 has to have one of those, mainly because the local buses are so unreliable that he’d rarely get to school on time if he used them.

His bus pass costs over £900 a year, and only covers the cost of the 20 minute journey to school and back. If he has an after school activity he’s to pay on the buses home. If he could do the journey on public transport it’d cost £390 for an annual bus pass he could use countywide at any time.

When I commuted to work it cost £8 each way. There were no season tickets, but I could get a weekly 'pass' which worked out slightly cheaper if I used it every day. I worked from home a day or two a week, so it wasn't often worth it.

Capping the fares came too late for me, but even if they'd been capped at £5 it would have been a big help, and I am delighted that they are not returning to full fare, which was the intention when they were introduced, I believe?

I would love to see free public transport, or a scheme under which people could buy a subsidised annual pass, but for it to work well there would have to be significant investment in the infrastructure of bus companies. Before they were privatised we had numerous buses a day, and they travelled between the small towns as well as to and from the city. Now there are fewer buses, and whilst it's easy enough (if expensive) to get to the city there are few, if any, buses connecting the towns without going into the city and out again. This is obviously costly and time consuming, and it makes visiting friends and family difficult without a car, even if they are just a few miles away. It also reduces employment opportunities, and restricts business (particularly retail) to those who live near the premises.

A £3 cap is a step in the right direction, and if it is the best that can be done in cash-strapped times I am pleased that what was meant to be a temporary subsidy hasn't been scrapped altogether.

True indeed JaneJudge and I’m totally with you.
I think it was just the huge 50% LEAP that shocked me!

it is still cheaper than running a car and paying for parking as a single person it's when you factor in a household usage of a bus v car

Allira

^People will not abandon their cars unless we have an integrated, reliable, affordable, public transport system.^
Absolutely!

Carrots, not sticks.

But politicians, national and local, do not seem able to grasp that fact.

I imagine this is an area that will be devolved out to the Combined Authority Mayors in the next few years. Some areas are already using "Mayor's Fares" to keep them lower than they would otherwise be.

Devolving this to Combined Authority Mayors seems to me to be the best way to get an integrated, reliable, affordable, public transport system. I am aware discussion has taken place between those Mayors covering Yorkshire and those Authorities that abut theirs.

Another chance to exercise our patience, I guess.

FriedGreenTomatoes2

They do indeed Ilovecheese. I love the Bee buses.
(The 🐝 is the symbol for Manchester reflecting our industrial heritage. The black and white tiled flooring in the beautiful town hall in our City where our daughter got married 15 years ago has the bees incorporated into the design).

Well, I was confused as to why bees and industrial heritage were linked so had to look it up.

Worker bees!

Andy Burnham is indeed proving a highly motivational Mayor of our city.

“ Greater Manchester is set to make history as the first area outside London to bring all bus services under local control in almost 40 years.

On 5 January 2025, Greater Manchester’s remaining 250+ bus services in Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and parts of Manchester and Salford will join the Bee Network.

The Bee Network is already making it easier to get around on safe, affordable, reliable services. Customers can ‘Say Yellow’ to:

Improvements on key bus routes, with more frequent, earlier and later services linking up with trams and trains.
A range of value for money Bee Bus tickets that can be used on all Bee Network buses.
Hundreds of newer, cleaner Bee Network buses.
From 5 January everyone using the Bee Network can look forward to:

A low single ‘hopper’ fare (£2 adult/£1 child) so you can ‘hop on’ on more than one bus within 60 minutes of buying your ticket.
Cheaper 7-day, 28-day and annual Bee Bus tickets making travel easier.
Frozen Metrolink fares for the fifth year running.
Even more TravelSafe staff out on the network.
From spring 2025 we’re introducing combined contactless travel across trams AND buses with a daily and weekly cap, making it easier than ever to pay.”

Not every area is so fortunate.

They do indeed Ilovecheese. I love the Bee buses.
(The 🐝 is the symbol for Manchester reflecting our industrial heritage. The black and white tiled flooring in the beautiful town hall in our City where our daughter got married 15 years ago has the bees incorporated into the design).

Our Council tax has not increased to pay for our public owned bus service. Things seem to be working well here. I suppose it depends if there is the will to improve life for passengers and for the environment.

Wyllow3

I agree, Allira, of course. How to get there is another matter entirely because of the costs of running part or mostly empty buses.

And people love their cars despite a good bus system. Locally the bus and tram services are pretty good, but its noticeable that the buses are full at work times on the poorer side of my city - and not on the better off side and its because people prefer the convenience of cars. .

Yes, I do see that a bus which goes to the next town is often almost empty - but crammed full, standing room only when children are going to and from school.

Here in Manchester, Andy Burnam has kept our bus fares at £2. Our buses are coming under local authority control. They look rather good as well.