'Not good enough shambles of a decision to raise bus fare cap to £3'

One headline preceding the autumn Budget was the announcement that the cap on single bus journey fares would not remain at £2; instead, it is set to rise to £3 come 2025.

Although FirstBus has not made final decisions about ticket pricing, their indicated preference for "a staggered approach" hints at potential fare increases, which could soon affect Somerset and Bristol passengers. It seems likely that the cost of a single bus journey in the city will see a hike.

The Government attributes the fare cap rise to a daunting £22 billion gap in its finances. Bristol City Council, meanwhile, has mentioned that the revenue generated from the Clean Air Zone could support bus services across certain areas. To all these developments, my reaction is: "What a shambles."

READ MORE:Peter Andre cuddles Junior and Princess as they make dazzling Pride of Britain entrance

READ MORE:Kate Middleton's go-to shirt brand launches new autumn and winter collection

True enough, not many held out hope for the £2 fare cap to lastit did feel a bit too good to be real. Yet, if mending financial gaps is the goal, upping the fare a significant deterrent for public transport use feels like a misguided solution.

I’m all for providing better transport, and having better bus services is essential for the city with a notorious reputation for the reliability of buses, so what’s the point of upping prices and turning people away from using the said transport? To make money, people have to use the service, right?

It is a great job that new bus services could be funded by the council and I genuinely applaud the effort. It is a shame that less people would use it due to the price difference.

Some will argue that a £1 difference isn’t a big deal. But when a £2 single, which turns into a £4 journey there and back from the shops, or from work, becomes £6 a day - those with limited income will undoubtedly struggle. Take a working person, using two buses a day, every weekday for four weeks (i.e. a month), the price will go up from £80 to £120.

I can already hear some also arguing that the extension of the Birthday Bus scheme will help those with some of the costs, as Dan Norris said it was “more efficient”. I’m sure the vast majority of people will disagree, it isn’t like everyone has a monthly birthday after all.

The money generated from the new cap would ideally raise money to better improve transport across our city, if that is in the long-term then that may make the world of difference. What about now?

What about places without a bus in Somerset, as well as in Bristol, where the first chance of getting a dedicated bus service would be in April? That is three months of a more expensive single journey, already inconvenient enough, but an added strain on finances.

What about the reliability of buses? I don’t need to mention to the people of Bristol how late some buses are, or the amount of cancellations people have to endure, will the £1 increase per journey fix that when it is implemented? It’s unlikely, even more so when talking about an immediate effect.

It’s a shame, if buses were actually decent everywhere then the price cap on single journeys could be less of an issue. If our transport system was up to standard, knowing we’d get to work on time or spend less time waiting in the cold and the rain, maybe we would pay a little more knowing it would maintain the good we have.

But how can it be justified when buses still cause an issue to many and yet the public are to fork out a little more just to use the transport? Buses should be free, or at the very least, subsidised so the costs are low, as far as I am concerned, no one should be paying more for a bus service which we don’t even know will be coming to our stop.