Concerns county will not benefit from £2 bus cap
Councillor Justine Peberdy says Yeomans Travel and Sargeants Brothers have not committed to the cap.
Concerns county will not benefit from £2 bus cap
Andy Burnham announced that the bus fare cap in England will return to £2 from January, but there are worries it may not be introduced in Herefordshire.
According to council leaders, Herefordshire’s two biggest bus operators have not yet signed up to the flat £2 fare being encouraged by the government.
Ledbury councillor Justine Peberdy said the price cap scheme "will not benefit Herefordshire unless our operators choose to participate in it".
She said Yeomans Travel and Sargeants Brothers, which together run most of the county’s services, did not take part in the current £3 bus fare scheme, and there were concerns they would not join the new one. Yeomans said it was waiting for further information before making a decision.
The bus fare cap in England will go back to £2 from the current £3 in January.
Peberdy, who chairs a group examining how the county’s bus services can be improved, confirmed that Bromyard-based DRM does intend to take part.
Independent councillor Nick Mason said it would be "horrendous" if the rest of the country benefited while fares in Herefordshire remained higher.
Tammy Gerber of the local campaign group Buses4Us said the gap between capped and uncapped fares could amount to £1,200 a year for someone commuting five days a week in the county.
"Herefordshire's operators need to get with the programme before January 2027 and not leave young people to find out the hard way that they've been left behind," she said.
Sargeants currently has 24 routes listed on the Herefordshire Council website, mainly in and around Hereford and westwards towards and into Wales.
Yeomans Travel operates 31 routes, including many serving villages around Hereford, Leominster and the north, as well as the southwest of the county.
A Yeomans spokesperson said that, with the details of the scheme "still evolving", the support available from the government would depend on data it had not yet submitted.
"Consequently, a final decision on participation cannot be made at this point," they said, adding: "We do not expect to receive the government's proposal until late November."
Sargeants was also contacted for comment.