A new £2.50 single bus cap will launch this New Year – meaning North East passengers will benefit from the new local ticket which is at least 50p cheaper than the national £3 rate.
Agreed by the North East Mayor and Cabinet in December, the new price cap is subsidised by the combined authority using Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) funding and will remain in place until 31 December 2025 to keep local fares as low as possible.
Many passengers will also pay less – with many operator fares for shorter journeys priced at between £1.90 and £2.50. This means that the most passengers in the North East will pay to travel by bus in 2025 is 50p less than the national rate.
In addition, the Mayor announced at the region’s first Child Poverty Summit in November that she will extend the £1 fare for those 21 and under currently in operation across bus, Metro and Ferry to run in 2025. She has also pledged to do everything she can to keep it in place until 2028.
North East Mayor Kim McGuinness, said: “People tell me every day how much they rely on the bus and how much they have benefitted from the national fare cap. I want to support local people and continue to keep transport costs as low as possible, which is why I have stepped in to launch a new local bus cap which is at least 50p cheaper than the national rate.
“It’s important we do all we can to improve our buses and a big part of that is improving access for all by providing good value fares.
“This new cap is in addition to our popular £1 fare for young people which has seen millions of bus journeys this year alone and I have committed to keep this in place in 2025. We also launched Kids Go Free region-wide in 2024, supporting families with free travel for kids under 11 during the school holidays.
“There is of course so much more to do, and I have bold plans for our buses but this is a step in the right direction.”
In July this year, the Mayor and Cabinet agreed to undertake a Franchising Scheme Assessment (FSA) to consider how the bus network could look in the future. The Mayor has confirmed her ambition to take the bus network back under public control.
For more information on bus fares in the North East, visit www.northeast-ca.gov.uk/bus