Evaluation of the £2 bus fare cap
Interim reports on the £2 bus fare cap.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
The £2 bus fare cap was launched on 1 January 2023. The scheme supports bus operators to implement a £2 cap on eligible single tickets for adults.
The aims of the fare cap are to save passengers money and encourage more people back on the bus.
The aims of this evaluation are:
- to find out the extent to which the bus fare cap achieves its aims of saving bus passengers money and encouraging greater bus usage
- to understand how the fare cap is experienced across the country by bus users and non-users
The January 2023 report includes baseline trends from the period before the £2 bus fare cap scheme was introduced, including trends in bus usage and the cost of bus travel.
Observations from the first month of the £2 bus fare cap scheme include that:
- take-up of the scheme varied by region, rurality, household income and car ownership
- awareness of the scheme was high with national news acting as the main channel for raising awareness
- early evidence suggests a potentially positive impact on patronage and the cost of living
The February 2023 report includes observations from the first 2 months of the £2 fare cap scheme including:
- trends in patronage between early 2022 and early 2023, which appears to continue to recover following the COVID-19 pandemic (early evidence suggests the £2 Bus Fare Cap may be playing a role in this recovery)
- trends in ticket sales, with an increase in the number and proportion of single bus journeys since the scheme started
The final evaluation will be completed in early 2024.
Frontier Economics and SYSTRA were commissioned to complete the evaluation on behalf of the Department for Transport.
Last updated 28 September 2023 + show all updates
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Added interim report February 2023.
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First published.