Tracy Brabin reveals how much bus fares in West Yorkshire will rise by next year
Bus fares in West Yorkshire are likely to rise by up to 25 per cent next year, Tracy Brabin has announced.
The Labour mayor has proposed a £2.50 price cap for a single fare, rising from £2, and a £6 cap for a DaySaver ticket, up from £5.
These plans will be voted on at a meeting of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority on 12 December, and would come into place on 31 March next year and last until at least 30 December 2025.
This sees WYCA continue to subsidise fares provided by the bus companies.
“What was important for me was to keep fares as low as possible,” Ms Brabin told The Yorkshire Post.
“The public were telling me that the Mayor’s Fares were making a huge difference to their families and their transport, particularly in a cost of living crisis.
“It’s great to get more people on the bus and out of their cars - this is devolution in action.”
Earlier in the week, Ms Brabin pledged to keep the current £2 single fare until the end of March, following the £36 million allocation in the Budget for West Yorkshire to improve bus services.
She explained that £15m of the funding was being used on the subsidised fares, £12m was set aside for keeping routes alive and the rest of the cash was being kept for emergencies.
“We are having to take a view that it is of course important to keep fares low,” Ms Brabin added, “but there is no point in having a low fare if you don’t have a bus that comes to your community.
“It’s a balancing act while we get to franchising, when everywhere in West Yorkshire will be fully franchised, in public control, by 2028.”
The biggest saving per journey in England from this is the £13 between Leeds and Scarborough.