Passengers in Oldham have welcomed the move
He confirmed Bee Network buses will continue to only charge £2 for an adult single journey, roughly 36 hours after the Prime Minister said the cap in the rest of England will rise from £2 to £3 next year.
Ms Haigh added: "That’s why the Government will cap fares at £3 for an additional year and provide over £1 billion to deliver better bus services. And it’s the Bee Network which allows for lower fares, Greater Manchester transport chiefs say. To explain how Manchester is doing things differently, the LDRS spoke to passengers and transport insiders on the £2 cap.
Another commuter, Natalie Hobson, 36, was waiting in Oldham’s interchange for a bus to work. She agreed Mr Burnham’s decision was a ‘good’ one but is worried about whether tickets will stay at £2 long-term. So why can Greater Manchester do what others cannot? Put simply, Andy Burnham could keep his cap lower because it was funded from a different pot of cash to the other cap. The ‘English cap’, set to end in two months and now being extended until December 2025 at £3, is paid for by a £151 million government fund called the National Bus Fare Cap.
What did the mayor say? Here is Andy Burnham’s announcement in full: "Greater Manchester is on course to complete the re-regulation of buses on time and on budget early in the New Year, becoming the first city-region outside London to put them fully back under public control after four decades of deregulation.
"Firstly, the per-kilometre cost of our new contracts are on average one third cheaper than tenders in the old deregulated system.
Politics Transport For Greater Manchester Bee Network Bolton Bury Oldham Rochdale Tameside Stockport Trafford Salford Wigan Manchester City Centre
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