£3 bus fare scheme faces main blow as Rachel Reeves may scrap cap | Personal Finance | Finance | EUROtoday

The £3 single ticket cap, a measure meant to maintain bus fares reasonably priced for tens of 1000’s of passengers, may very well be scrapped.

The common £3 restrict is ready to be axed in favour of a extra “targeted” strategy, in keeping with the Mirror.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander refused to say if the scheme would survive Rachel Reeves’ forthcoming spending assessment and revealed that just one in six journeys at present profit from the worth cap.

Government sources have instructed that native leaders will acquire better management to focus the fare reduction on particular demographics or areas.

Campaigners worry that scrapping the cap may trigger single fares to skyrocket by over £10 in sure elements of the UK. Presently, the nationwide fare ceiling outdoors London, elevated from £2 by Keir Starmer, is secured till the top of the yr.

Ms Alexander stated: “When the announcement was made last year about the £3 bus cap, we committed to having that in place until the end of this year. One of the really important things to remember about this scheme is that it only applies to single bus journeys.”

She added: “A lot of people who use buses regularly, for example, would be using a weekly or a monthly Travelcard-type arrangement.

“In reality, the cap solely applies to at least one in six bus journeys for the time being. We are having discussions as a part of the spending assessment, however I’ll go away it at that.”

A Government source has revealed that fare caps for buses won’t be completely scrapped but may differ across various regions, reports the Mirror. They added: “Under this Labour authorities buses are now not the forgotten a part of our public transport community.

“We stepped in to fund the bus fare cap this year at short notice to avoid a Tory-made cliff-edge fare hike.

“But with just one in six journeys supported by the fare cap, that cash may very well be working tougher for passengers.

“We are looking at a more targeted approach to allow Councils and Mayors to maintain a cap where it makes sense for them. This fits with the wider plans we have for to support buses in our new law allowing Local Authorities and Mayors to expand bus networks in a way that suits their community, wherever they are, as well as protecting lifeline local routes for the first time.”

Mr Starmer promised that the prevailing cap would keep till the top of the yr. The present spend is £150 million on the coverage, a fraction of a considerable £1 billion funding earmarked for enhancing bus companies.

Louise Haigh, who held the submit earlier than Ms Alexander, had proposed that ranging from 2026, fare capping could be notably geared toward youthful individuals and people residing in rural settings.