Residents will pay significantly less to travel by bus from next week under a Cornwall Council pilot scheme to encourage more people to travel by bus.
The reduced bus fares pilot scheme is a first for a local authority and follows a successful bid by the council for £23.5m of government funding.
It will mean adult bus passengers will, on average, pay one-third less for their fares when new summer timetables are introduced on Sunday (10th April).
The pilot, which aims to encourage more people to hop on the bus and leave their cars at home, will run for the next four years. It is hoped the scheme will cut car emissions as road transport currently accounts for around a quarter of all of Cornwall’s carbon emissions.
The council has worked with bus operators to transform Cornwall’s public transport network in recent years, following a government devolution deal in 2016.
Most of Cornwall’s buses are among the newest in the country, stops have been upgraded, and many now feature real time passenger information displays to give passengers up-to-the-minute information about their journeys. The latest improvement has seen operators now accepting each other’s tickets for travel.
The reduced bus fares pilot is a central pillar of Cornwall’s Bus Service Improvement Plan, submitted to government in October 2021 as a bid for transformational funding over the next three years that will further develop the bus network.
Removing price as a barrier
Linda Taylor, leader of Cornwall Council and a St Ives member, said: “This is very welcome news which will make a real difference to our residents and, ultimately, our environment.
“Making our buses better value and easier to use will give our residents a much more attractive, sustainable travel option, and is instrumental in our journey to helping Cornwall become carbon neutral.”
Richard Stevens, managing director at Go Cornwall Bus, said: “We are delighted to be a partner in this innovative scheme. For years people have told us price is one of the main barriers to regular bus use.
“This pilot seeks to remove price as a barrier, enabling us to offer excellent value-for-money fares. I hope that every Cornwall resident will seek to add bus travel to their regular lives, helping to secure a sustainable, connected future for the rest of our lives.”
Simon Goff, managing director of First South West, added: “Anything that makes choosing the bus an even more enticing option is to be warmly welcomed, and we look forward to helping even more passengers get to their destinations safely and efficiently over the coming months and years.
“Cornwall Council deserves praise for leading this initiative, which is sure to have a significant and lasting positive impact throughout the county.”
The scheme will be marketed and delivered by Transport for Cornwall, a partnership of Cornwall Council and its transport operators.
