Bus fares in England going up to £3

Maximum single bus fares are going up to £3 from 1 January 2025, a 50% increase from the current £2 cap.  

The new fare will be in place until the end of next year, the prime minister has said. 

What’s the bus fare cap? 

The bus fare cap was introduced in 2022 to help people cope with rising living costs.  

It sets a limit on how much you can pay for a bus ride.  

Introduced in January 2023, the original £2 fare cap was meant to last for three months, but was extended for almost two years, until 31 December 2024. 

This cap applies to most bus services in England, but it doesn’t cover London, Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire, which already have their own fare limits.  

In London, a single fare will still be £1.75 and in Greater Manchester it will stay at £2. 

Some bus companies can choose not to follow the cap, meaning they can charge whatever they want.  

Around 3.4 million people rely on buses in England and, with the autumn budget coming up, there were worries that the cap might be completely removed.  

If that happened, it could lead to much higher fares for many passengers.  

The government insists keeping a fare cap is important, especially for people living in rural areas. They believe the £2 cap wasn’t sustainable and didn’t provide good value for taxpayers. 

Concerns about the increase 

But raising the cap to £3 has been criticised.  

Many worry those with lower incomes will be hit the hardest. Councillor Keane Duncan from North Yorkshire pointed out that this increase means working people could face extra costs of about £500 a year just for commuting. 

The Liberal Democrats have called the change ‘a bus tax’ and while some organisations, like the Campaign for Better Transport, are glad the cap wasn’t scrapped entirely, they still see this as a significant and potentially costly increase for many bus users.  

The fare increase will be included in chancellor Rachel Reeves’ first budget on Wednesday (30 October) as the government tries to tackle a £22bn gap in public finances. 

Stay updated 

We’ll keep you posted on budget announcements this week and how these changes might affect your money.