Bus fare cap increases in Salisbury - but future investment promised
The bus fare price cap is now £3
Bus fares in Salisbury have gone up, with the cap increasing from £2 to £3.
The rise follows the end of the £2 cap, which had been funded by the Government, with the new cap in place until the end of 2025.
The Government confirmed the introduction of the scheme in October 2024, saying it would benefit rural areas and save passengers up to 80% on some routes.
Salisbury Reds Managing Director, Andrew Wickham said no one wants to see prices go up, but the Government had said the previous cap was no longer affordable.
But he's promised investment in services to ensure value for money.
He said: "We have lots of schemes going on to improve services through bus service improvement plans across the network in Salisbury and elsewhere.
"We have electric buses coming to Salisbury in 2026 and loads of other plans going on to improve services, we're still seeing more people using buses year on year and we want to keep that that trend going."
The price hike means bus users are paying a greater proportion of the fare, rather than the tax payer.
Andrew added that it's in everyone's interests use buses more often, insisting that they will put on more services as bus users grow.
He told us: "It means there's fewer cars on the road. If people are leaving their cars at home sometimes and in turn that means less traffic congestion. Everybody hates traffic congestion. It means less emissions, it means less carbon dioxide contributing to carbon to the climate change."
And it's now less than 12 months until the scheduled arrival of electric buses in Salisbury, which Andrew told us is very exciting, but that the higher prices will help prepare for their arrival.
He said: "When someone buys an electric car and they need to get a car charger put into their house, imagine the amount of electricity chargers you need for charging 21 buses, its a lot.
"We need clearly need to get that in before the buses themselves arrive. So we're working hard on getting all the charging facilities and the power into the depot at the moment."
When confirming the £3 fare cap, the Government said:
"The cap means no single bus fare on routes included in the scheme will exceed £3 and routes where fares are less than £3 will only be allowed to increase by inflation in the normal way so that some fares will remain below £3. The fare cap will help millions access better opportunities and promote greater use by passengers.
"We are providing funding of over £150 million to enable the introduction of the cap. This is part of a £1 billion funding boost for buses, which will be set out at the budget to help local areas deliver high quality, reliable bus services and protect the vital routes that so many people rely on. Improving the reliability and number of services and routes is essential to encouraging more people to use buses.
"Buses are the engines of economic opportunity across the country. Our bus revolution and new Buses Bill will give every community the power to take back control of their services, improve the reliability of services and turn the page on four decades of failed deregulation."