Mayor's conference call to end uncertainty over cap on bus fares

Speaking at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, she said that the latest bus fare cap was welcome but warned that the temporary nature and regular lobbying for extensions was preventing mayors making the most of bus fare changes.

The Mayor brought in the popular £2.50 ‘Mayor’s Fares’ cap on bus fares across the North East and earlier this year, led calls for a greater reduction in bus fares, a move which has now been backed by Prime Minister Andy Burnham and will mean £2 fares from January.

But the funding behind cheaper fares is only in place for 2027 – meaning yet more uncertainty and no long-term plan for buses.

The Mayor says fares should be capped for the life of a parliament.

She said: “People shouldn't have to wait for every Budget to find out what their bus to work is going to cost

“We urgently need this government to put affordable bus fares on a long-term funding plan. Right now, bus fares are in the same political purgatory shared by fuel duty with ongoing temporary freezes.

“In January 2023 we saw the first bus fare cap introduced, and then elections approach and it was extended again. We saw the cap kept but increase.

"It then came down but for a year.”

She added: "Change after change. All in the right direction, but now we need to be bolder.

"It feels like every few months we go back to government asking how much longer can we stretch it out.

"Let’s be bolder. Let’s just cap bus fares at this level for the life of a Parliament. Give mayors the funds to keep fares down. Make life more affordable for the people of the north.”

The Mayor recently wrote to Chancellor John Healey urging him to use his first budget to hand mayors more freedom in how they invest.

She said: “Give mayors the freedom and long-term funding to get on with the job and we can make everyday life more affordable.

"In the North East that means cheaper buses, cutting Metro fares and building a safer transport network people can rely on.”