Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the impact of the £2 bus fare cap on increasing bus usage in (a) the East Midlands and (b) Leicestershire.

The £2 fare cap was launched by the Department for Transport (DfT) on 1 January 2023 and is set to remain in place until the end of December 2024.

The DfT published an interim report in September 2023 setting out emerging trends in key outcomes from the first two months of the scheme. It is available on GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-the-2-bus-fare-cap/2-bus-fare-cap-evaluation-interim-report-february-2023.

Patronage in the East Midlands and Leicestershire appears to be continuing to recover following the COVID-19 pandemic.