Retaining £2 bus cap 'wasn't easy decision' admits Metro Mayor

Retaining the £2 single bus fare for passengers across the Liverpool City Region was “not an easy decision”, according to Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram. Earlier this month, Chancellor Rachel Reeves used her Budget to confirm a cap on ticket prices would be increased to £3 from next year.

Introduced in 2022, the £2 limit had been due to expire at the end of this year. In Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham confirmed their fares would remain capped at £2 ahead of Ms Reeves standing at the despatch box.

Addressing St George’s Hall as part of the annual Heseltine Institute lecture, Mr Rotheram said the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority needed to work hard to stay within its own fiscal rules to keep fares low. He said the decision would be vital ahead of a major public ownership scheme of bus transport in the coming years.

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Mr Rotheram said: “It really wasn’t an easy decision. The random nature of Westminster and way levelling up funding is distributed means we only got £12bn compared to Manchester.

“At that time, we were scrabbling around to see if we could do what Andy was doing. In an area of low car ownership, public transport is essential, not just nice to have.”

Mr Rotheram appeared alongside Mr Burnham at the iconic city centre venue as part of the University of Liverpool’s annual policy centre lecture event. The new £3 cap will take effect nationally from January except here in the Liverpool City Region where it has followed Greater Manchester in sticking with the existing fare.

While the current level of cap came in across England in January 2023, the Liverpool City Region had introduced a £2 cap earlier, with the reduced fares online two years ago. At that time, Mr Rotheram said the limit on fares was “putting money back into the pockets of our residents.”

The new reduced fare was agreed with bus operators in the Liverpool City Region for an initial three-year period. It is funded by the £12m Bus Services Improvement Plan (BSIP) allocation, secured by the Mayor and Combined Authority from the Conservative administration.

Bus travel is the most popular form of public transport in the Liverpool City Region, accounting for over 80 per cent of all journeys made every day. More than 1.6 million £2 tickets are bought every month.

Mr Rotheram added: “We had to do something, we worked really hard and diligently to stick to our treasury rules. We’ll ensure and guarantee that until September 2025. It’s really good for people as we enter into franchising buses.”