Price cap introduced on public transport across the East of England
130 bus operators across England are involved in the scheme
There's hope a new price cap on bus services across the East of England will lead to more people using public transport.
It means a single journey will cost no more than £2.
130 bus operators across England are involved in the scheme. But it is voluntary and not every operator is taking part.
The cap will remain in place until 31 March 2023.
Who's taking part in the East of England?
Some of the companies taking part in this locally are:
Sanders Coaches, Konectbus (Norfolk)
BorderBus and Ipswich Buses (Suffolk)
First Bus Essex and Galleon Travel (Essex)
Stagecoach and Centrebus (Beds, Bucks and Herts)
"I'm sure it will be popular with passengers"
Nigel Feetham is the Chief Operating Officer at one of the bus companies involved:
"We hope that with more people using the bus that will free up the roads, to help people get back into town. Of course, the money they save on bus fares will be directed elsewhere in the economy. So hopefully a win elsewhere for everyone."
"It's environmentally friendly, there is no hassle parking, it's a very straight-forwards means of travel and it gets to the heart of town centres, as well. We think that people who try it will really like it, and of course the standard of buses is so much better."
"I think every penny helps. I'm sure it will be popular with passengers. I think it will encourage some people to try buses who haven't previously tried them before. We hope that people stick with it as their mode of transport in the future".
"We 've seen a real decline in bus usage over the pandemic"
Richard Holden is the Government's Roads Minister:
"We 've seen a real decline in bus usage over the pandemic. We're on 80-85% of revenue from paying passengers at the moment. We want to see that increase and see us get back up to pre-pandemic levels on the buses. This is a scheme that allows us to do that."