Nearly half of people who are aware of the £2 bus fare cap in England say the scheme has led to them making additional journeys, according to the latest results from a Department for Transport survey.
The finding is one of several insights from the latest wave of the National Travel Attitudes Study, which focuses on the effect of the Bus Fare Cap Grant (BFCG) scheme, concessionary travel use and attitudes to the European Entry Exit System (EES).
The survey collected responses from 1,584 individuals in March 2024.
Awareness of BFCG, which began in January 2023 and has been extended to the end of this year, is high, according to the study, which reported 63% knew of it.
This represented an increase on the corresponding figure of 50% recorded in the previous wave of responses from August-September 2023.
Forty-nine per cent of respondents who were aware of the cap agreed with the statement “I have made additional journeys on the bus I wouldn’t have done without the fare cap”.
A similar volume (51%) among this group said they had used the bus instead of other forms of public transport due to the fare cap.
The survey found 65% said they had saved money due to it.
Attitudes to extension of capping towards other types of tickets were also analysed. A majority (57%) of those who use buses in areas where the scheme is in place would keep usage about the same if price limits were applied to other types of tickets such as daily, weekly or multi-journey tickets. Meanwhile 37% of these said it would lead to them using the bus more.
Fourteen per cent revealed they would not travel at all if the capping level for a single journey increased from £2. However, 59% said they would be willing to pay £2.50.
When it comes to concessionary travel, a key finding of the survey was that, of those aged 65-plus, 79% own, or are in the process of acquiring, a bus pass.
Of those who have a concessionary pass or are in the process of acquiring one, 40% use the bus at least weekly, but 18% never use it.
Across all respondents in the survey, 24% use the bus at least weekly – as against 42% who never use it.
The survey also looked at the impact of the EES, which is due to be introduced at the border from autumn. While 14% of those previously aware of the planned introduction said it would make them less likely to travel abroad, 63% across all awareness levels said they would be just as likely to travel.
