The Guardian reports that campaigners have voiced concern that more bus services will be cut once the recently announced £2 cap on bus fares expires

The winter fares deal will conclude just as the last post-pandemic recovery funding runs out for the bus industry at the end of March.

Campaigners say up to 20% of routes are at risk in some areas, and argue long-term subsidy is needed to keep fares down as the cost-of-living bites, and as operators’ staffing and fuel bills surge.

Despite the concerns, the Campaign for Better Transport (CBT), which welcomed the scheme, said affordable bus travel was a “win-win” for households and the economy, but called for it to be more than just a temporary fix.

Alice Ridley, a CBT campaigner, said: “Obviously we’d prefer something to be extended indefinitely. It’s great, but in three months’ time when a fare goes back to £8 on some routes, people will not be incentivised to use the bus.”

A further tranche of the network is at risk, according to Graham Vidler, the chief executive of the Confederation of Passenger Transport, due to the combination of spiralling costs, the withdrawal of funding and the low level of patronage by concessionary travellers in particular – with older people having turned to online shopping during Covid, and some residual anxiety over using public transport persisting after the pandemic.

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The Guardian - England’s £2 bus fare cap may not save rural routes, campaigners fear