THE £2 cap on bus fares has been extended in England until the end of October, the government has announced. 

The cap, which applies to more than 130 bus operators outside of London including Stagecoach Devon, will then rise in November to £2.50 for 12 months, before prices are reviewed. 

The current limit on fares for single journeys has now been extended twice after warnings hundreds of services could be cut without it.

Its aim is to ease the cost of living pressures on passengers but also to encourage people to use buses.

Newton Abbot MP Anne Marie Morris welcomed the extension.

She said: ‘Excellent news today that the Government is extending the £2 bus fare scheme. 

‘I know how welcome these subsidised fares have been for local passengers during the cost-of-living crisis.’

Bus operators have still not seen the same number of passengers return to using services as before the Covid pandemic, with levels recovering to around 85 to 90 per cent, according to the Department for Transport.

The Confederation of Passenger Transport, which is the trade association for the UK's bus and coach sector, welcomed the extra funding for the scheme and said it would help operators and councils to ‘promote and grow services with greater confidence’.

But Graham Vidler, chief executive of the body, warned the funding and cap extension would ‘not save every service in every part of the country”'

The trade association has repeatedly claimed that up to 15per cent of services could be scrapped without further funding for the sector. 

It has said if the government is ‘really serious’ about levelling up, then ministers need to ‘back our buses for the long term’.

Norman Baker, of the Campaign for Better Transport, urged the government to advertise the bus fare cap to attract people who do not usually use buses in order to grow passenger numbers.

He said: ‘The huge success of the scheme proves that by making public transport more affordable, more people will use it and revenue can be increased.’

One of the longest routes which the cap applies to includes Plymouth to Exeter.

Extending the current cap until the end of October and then subsiding fares at £2.50 until November 2024 will cost £200m, the government said.

As well as releasing cash to keep the cap in place, the Department for Transport said it would provide £300m to councils and operators until 2025 to protect routes that passengers rely on for work, education and medical appointments, and to improve infrastructure.

The government said continuing to cap fares would particularly benefit people on lower incomes who it said take three times as many bus trips than those on higher incomes.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said the reason for extending the scheme was due to bus travel being ‘the most popular form of public transport’, with millions of people relying on them.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak added: ‘By extending the £2 fare cap, we're making sure bus travel remains accessible and affordable for everyone, while helping to ease cost of living pressures.’