Bus Services: Suffolk

(asked on 6th December 2023) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many journeys were made using the £2 bus fare cap in (a) Suffolk and (b) Suffolk coastal district in (i) 2022 and (ii) 2023.


Answered by
Guy Opperman Portrait
Guy Opperman
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This question was answered on 11th December 2023

The Department for Transport has contracted with external delivery partners to complete a robust monitoring & evaluation of the impact of the Bus Fare Cap Grant, and as a part of this, extensive data is collected from operators including the number of ticket sales. However, the data is commercially sensitive and cannot be disaggregated by region in a way that would provide journey numbers for Suffolk or Suffolk coastal district. The Department will publish the final report evaluating the impact of the £2 fare cap in the spring of 2024.

For 21/22 and 22/23, bus passenger journeys made in Suffolk were 9.5 million and 12.2 million respectively (BUS01: Local bus passenger journeys). This 28% increase in passenger journeys will likely have been impacted by the introduction of the £2 bus fare cap from 1 January 2023, which the Government has extended until the end of 2024. This takes total Government investment in the £2 bus fare cap to nearly £600 million.

The Department for Transport's local bus fare statistics show that between September 22 and September 23, bus fares have dropped by 6.2% in England, outside London, and by 11% in non-metropolitan parts of England. In Scotland, Wales and London, where the buses are devolved, fares increased by 9.8%, 6.2% and 6.0%, respectively.

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