Commuters in West Worcestershire clobbered with an extra £448 bill due to lifting of bus fare cap

People who use the bus to commute to work or education in West Worcestershire have now been hit with an extra £448 bill due to the government’s decision to raise the bus fare cap from £2 to £3. Worcestershire’s Lib Dems have labelled this the ‘bus tax’.

Analysis by the Party shows that the average commuter in West Worcestershire who takes the bus every working day of the week will face an extra £448 bill because of the change made by the government. 

Local Liberal Democrats are calling for the rise to be reversed and the £2 bus cap to be returned to protect bus commuters from suffering more financial pain after years of “economic vandalism" under the Conservatives.

Liberal Democrat parliamentary spokesperson for West Worcestershire, Dan Boatright-Greene said:

“The government’s bus tax is to clobbering commuters and bus users here in Worcestershire. It is the last thing people in our area need after the years of Conservative economic vandalism we have been forced to suffer.

“The £2 cap was having a positive effect on bus use, with my inbox recently experiencing complaints about overcrowding on some routes. This is the first time I have ever seen this. Instead of capitalising on the new enthusiasm for public transport and investing in increasing numbers of routes, the government has decided to make it more expensive.

“It is a decision that will make it more expensive for people just to get on with their everyday lives and will just add to the misery for motorists on our already congested roads.

“The government must urgently rethink this change and scrap their bus tax that will only make the lives of people here in Worcestershire harder.”