North East mayor Kim McGuinness has called on the Government to end bus uncertainty and make £2 bus fares a long-term policy.
Speaking at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, Mayor Kim said that the latest bus fare cap was welcome but warned that the temporary nature and regular lobbying for extensions was stopping mayors making the most of bus fare changes.
Mayor Kim has already brought in the popular £2.50 Mayor’s Fares on buses across the North East. Earlier this year the mayor 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 in 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 North East mayor said fares should be capped for the life of a parliament and this pledge has to be front and centre of the next Labour manifesto.
Speaking at an event Mayor Kim 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 and we lobbied to keep it in for longer. And then it came down but for a year.
“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’, and then we meet ministers who know they will not be able to raise bus fares politically but are reluctant to just make the cap a permanent feature of government policy.
“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 North East mayor has made affordability a key feature of her administration, from bus fares to help with childcare costs. She recently wrote to the Chancellor John Healey urging him to use his first budget to hand mayors more freedom in how they invest.
Mayor Kim 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.”
South West Durham News covering news across County Durham.
