\u00a0 \u00a0 The Bus Recovery Grant and the \u00a32 cap on fares outside London had been due to expire at the end of June, with bus operators warning that up to 15% of the network would be at risk if the government failed to act.<\/p>\n Transport secretary Mark Harper this week confirmed \u00a3300m to protect routes and improve services until 2025. This will give bus operators and local authorities more time to rebuild passenger volumes, which remain 10-15% short of pre-Covid levels.<\/p>\n The government will meanwhile provide up to \u00a3200m to continue capping single bus fares at \u00a32 outside London until the end of October 2023, and then at \u00a32.50 until end of November 2024. At this point, less than two months ahead of the latest date that the next general election can be held, \u201cthe government will review their effectiveness and future bus fares\u201d.<\/p>\n By extending the \u00a32 fare cap, we\u2019re making sure bus travel remains accessible and affordable for everyone while helping to ease cost of living pressures<\/p>\n Prime minister Rishi Sunak said: \u201cBy extending the \u00a32 fare cap, we\u2019re making sure bus travel remains accessible and affordable for everyone while helping to ease cost of living pressures.\u201d<\/p>\n The two-year funding settlement was welcomed by Graham Vidler, CEO of the Confederation of Passenger Transport. \u201cIt will enable bus operators and local authorities to plan, promote and grow services with greater confidence,\u201d he said. \u201cHowever, [this settlement] will not save every service in every part of the country.\u201d<\/p>\n Vidler added: \u201cOperators and local authorities will now work together to study the detail of the government\u2019s proposals and ensure that the funding is used to safeguard the best possible network for local passengers.\u201d<\/p>\n The additional funding builds on over three years\u2019 of government support totalling over \u00a32bn to help the sector recover from the pandemic, and more than \u00a31bn to support local authorities deliver their long-term local plans to improve services.<\/p>\n The funding announced this week will be shared between local transport authorities and bus operators. As part of the \u00a3300m to support services until 2025, \u00a3160m will be provided to local transport authorities to improve fares, services and infrastructure while \u00a3140m will go directly to operators to help protect essential services across England.<\/p>\n The Department for Transport said that \u201cwhile it is the responsibility of bus operators and local transport authorities to ensure an adequate provision of bus routes, the government continues to work closely with the sector to support local areas in dealing with changing travel patterns while managing pressures on the taxpayer\u201d.<\/p>\n Buses connect our communities and play a vital role in growing the economy<\/p>\n The prime minister said: \u201cBuses connect our communities and play a vital role in growing the economy; they transport people to work, take our kids to school and make sure patients can get to doctors\u2019 appointments. <\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019re determined to protect local routes and encourage more people onto the bus, ensuring people can get around easily and in an affordable way.\u201d <\/p>\n \u00a0 DON\u2019T MISS OUT \u2013 GET YOUR COPY! \u2013\u00a0click here to subscribe!<\/a><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The post \u00a3500m of new support for England\u2019s buses<\/a> first appeared on Passenger Transport<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u200b\u00a0<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In response to warnings that up to 15% of the bus network could be at risk, the government has extended recovery funding and the \u00a32 bus fare cap \u00a0Prime minister Rishi Sunak: Buses play a vital role in growing the economy \u00a0 The government this week announced \u00a3500m of additional funding to support local bus services in England until 2025.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":2729,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-camcab"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2728"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Prime minister Rishi Sunak: Buses play a vital role in growing the economy<\/em><\/p>\n
\nThe government this week announced \u00a3500m of additional funding to support local bus services in England until 2025.<\/p>\n
This story appears in the latest issue of\u00a0Passenger Transport<\/em>. <\/strong><\/p>\n