The Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) has responded to a campaign being led by the Liberal Democrats to urge the government not to raise the single bus fare cap in England.
The party’s leader, Ed Davey, visited business in Oxfordshire today to raise awareness around the controversial increase around the time of the Budget on 30 October of the cap from £2 to £3.
While the 50% hike has attracted much mainstream media attention and criticism from the public, CPT has more warmly greeted the extension for a further year of the scheme which had been set to end on 31 December.
Graham Vidler, CPT Chief Executive, says: “The vast majority of commuters will continue to pay less than £3 for each bus journey. The fare cap only applies to single tickets bought for individual journeys. Those who take the bus daily generally use lower-priced season tickets.
“For the 26% of bus passengers who do buy individual tickets, many fares for shorter trips up and down the country will be below the Government’s new £3 cap next year. The fare cap continues to be a popular and useful policy in keeping prices down – particularly for longer journeys.”
