Bristol Live readers have reacted with a mixture of cynicism and weariness to the announcement by the Transport Secretary Grant Shapps that he’s proposing capping the fare for a single bus journey to £2.
Mr Shapps made the announcement in an article in the Daily Telegraph over the weekend, saying it would cost the taxpayer around £260 million to subsidise the buses so that every ticket was a maximum of £2, and that this would ‘inject some certainty into an unpredictable economic landscape’, with soaring energy bills.
But while the move was cautiously welcomed by the pressure group Campaign for Better Transport, Bristol Live readers were less enamoured by the idea, pointing out that it would only benefit bus users in Bristol by 20p a journey - and the bus has to turn up first.
Read more: Bus fares could be capped at £2 a journey in England
Writing on Bristol Live’s Facebook page, David King pointed out that the issue with buses wasn’t so much the cost of a journey, but the dire shortage of buses, that left many services short.
“So where are all these drivers coming from then to drive these extra buses that are required?” he asked.
Robin Hodson was one of many who asked how the Government could afford to subsidise the buses to ensure the cap of £2 a journey - “So how will the Government afford to subsidise half the buses?” when, they can’t cap the price of electricity or gas bills.
Andrew Adams questioned whether this was another case of the Government subsidising the profits of privatised public transport. “Don’t worry, us taxpayers will make sure the Tories give them a bung, like the train companies being subsidised by the taxpayers for their profits and shareholders. (It’s) yet another privatisation scam,” while many others questioned how effective this move will be, given it will only help people who travel by bus.
Alex Rastaper said: “Bus services in Bristol and the surrounding area have always been inadequate/frustrating - and it's just gotten worse and worse and more and more expensive throughout my life.
“Now there are rumours that main routes into the city centre, connecting commuter towns and villages, are going to be abolished completely come autumn! This is disgraceful. You cannot pressure people to start coming into offices again while bulldozing public transport. These services are vital to the local economy and they should not be for profit,” he added.
Many said they would welcome cheaper buses, if they had a bus service locally to use. “That’s if they turn up - cancelled every time,” wrote Joe Booy. “Me and my pregnant Mrs had to walk from Cribbs Causeway to Lawrence Weston - absolute joke.”
And others questioned the logistics of capping a single bus journey at £2, and whether that would mean the end to Day Rider or Night Rider tickets, which are cheaper if you do three journeys in one day.
And Francis Probert said: “This will only benefit people who already use buses, so all they will be doing is reducing their income a little bit further. It’s a good job we have those jolly pink scooters to get us around - think I’ll stick to my car.”
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