Combined Authority considers spending £1m to extend £2 bus fare cap in Cambridgeshire for three months

The Combined Authority will meet on Friday (13 December) to consider spending £1million to retain the £2 cap on bus fares for three months to the end of March 2025.

The existing £2 fare cap is due to expire at the end of this year.

The Chancellor announced in October’s Budget that a new £3 cap would be introduced for 2025.

But Dr Nik Johnson, the Labour mayor leading the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, has called an ‘extraordinary’ meeting of the board to consider funding a three-month extension of the £2 cap.

He says the move is in line with the authority’s bus strategy, designed to boost passenger numbers and services.

He said: “It was a huge relief to know that the national fare cap would continue through to the end of 2025 and the new rate is a good deal better than the nothing otherwise planned.

“As the transport authority, we have an opportunity to build on government’s support and keep bus fares as low as possible for our resident passengers and that’s why I’ve asked my board colleagues to meet and discuss the best use of the funding we have available.”

The estimated £1m cost would be funded through the Combined Authority’s 2024/25 Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) grant, which is designed for initiatives that keep travel affordable and support services.

If approved, the authority would engage with bus operators on the move.

Decisions about extending the cap beyond March will be made as part of the Combined Authority’s budget and medium-term financial plan-setting process in early 2025.