Bus fare caps are good but no substitute for strategy - Jayne Dowle

It’s early days, but when the history AI robots come to record the reign of Andy Burnham as PM, it’s highly possible the first paragraph will include the word ‘bus’.

The man is obsessed with buses. Just as he is obsessed with pubs being at the heart of working-class communities, miserablist Mancunian bands and no doubt keeping his collection of designer trainers in pristine condition.

Whilst the start to Burnham’s premiership has generally been a welcome breath of fresh air - certainly in comparison to the start Sir Keir Starmer made back in July 2024 - should the promise of a £2 cap on all bus fares in England from January 2027 really be the most important item on the political agenda?

Especially when we have a Russian warship deciding to hold a live firing practice 40 miles off Plymouth, AI models going rogue online and wildfires tearing up huge chunks of the country?

Remember how we groaned when Starmer announced that those with “the broadest shoulders” must be prepared to bear the heaviest burden of tax rises? And now here comes his successor, overturning the previous raised £3 cap instilled by Starmer and his draconian chancellor Rachel Reeves in 2024, and effectively promising to take us all back to some halcyon time when you could jump on the bus to town, have a night out for a tenner, then catch the late bus home again.

“Good, affordable transport links are an essential. No one should be priced out of those and left behind,” Burnham says. “But for too long, people have said that cheaper transport isn’t an option. I don’t accept that. I’ve done it before and I will do it again now; a £2 cap on bus fares for millions across the country.”

Reinstating the £2 maximum fare will partly be funded by switching grants for international climate projects to repayable loans instead. This is already causing a row. Burnham’s idealism - some might call it political naivety - has upset the heads of NGOs (non-governmental organisations) working overseas, and the Liberal Democrats to boot.

Monica Harding, the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for international development, pulled no punches, saying Burnham’s decision would “further undermine the UK’s standing as a reliable global partner”, and warning that swapping grants for loans “will ultimately fall on the backs of the world’s poorest, racking developing nations with more destabilising debt. This will only harm Britain’s security in the long run, fuelling more migration and instability abroad.”

Migration mentioned in anger already and Burnham only a week in. It’s about far more than buses. But I get it. I didn’t pass my driving test until I was 25, and both in South Yorkshire where I grew up and London where I lived from the age of 21, I was a big fan of buses too. And pubs. And miserablist Mancunian bands and designer trainers.

But that was then, and now we’re living in a very different world. Burnham’s mastery of the bus service across Greater Manchester during his tenure as mayor - expanding nationalisation in the city through the Bee Network - has been a key calling card in his rise to power.

However, what works across Greater Manchester, a major metropolis, is not going to revolutionise public transport in an England hollowed out by decade after decade of cuts to bus services. It’s all very well only having to pay £2 for a bus journey, but if there are no buses to catch, what’s the point?

In our region, this is particularly acute in rural and semi-rural areas, where public buses may not even exist, or come round only twice a week. People have learned to rely on their cars; speak with many families in the Yorkshire Dales, for example, and you’ll learn that their children take formal driving lessons as soon as they pass their 17th birthday. It’s highly likely that that these teenagers can already drive, having practised off road since their feet could touch the pedals.

The £2 bus fare cap is not going to mean much to such young people, who may never even have seen a bus go past the end of their lane.

In towns and cities, the £2 cap - which the government says will remain until December 2027 - comes against longer-term plans to take buses back into public ownership, which is already happening in West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire, for example.

Oliver Coppard, mayor of South Yorkshire, wasted no time in reminding the PM that he’s “already been getting on with the job”, having made U18 travel free in Barnsley, and keeping child fares at £1 for buses and trams across the sub region “to help families keep more money in their pockets”.

Saving a pound on a bus fare will mean a lot to many adults, especially those on low incomes or seeking work. But long term, if we really want to make public transport a viable alternative to the car - or never leaving the house unless it’s for a destination in walking or cycling distance - such strategic thinking takes precedence over any headline-grabbing announcement.