News: Transport bosses in driving seat over £2 tram fares
After Supertram operator, Stagecoach announced that discounted fares would come to an end on March 31, the region's transport bosses are moving quickly to discuss a £500,000 boost to keep them going.
Rothbiz reported yesterday that the extension to a £2 fare cap, announced recently by the government, only relates to buses and that Supertram had announced that the price of single tickets across Sheffield and Rotherham would revert to their current prices from April 1 (see announcement below).
Now the combined authority has used a general exception notice to get the issue on the agenda for the next transport board meeting scheduled for March 30.
Notice is usually given 28 days before the meeting but this item is being considered an urgent decision.
An update from SYMCA states that they will now consider an "Extension of the £2 fare cap on tram fares from 1 April to 30 June 2023, to parallel the Department for Transport funded fare cap for busses. [sic]"
The estimated cost is £450k to £500k.
The update adds: "DfT [Department for Transport] announced extension of the fare cap on 17/02/23. It was not possible to give 28 days notice following internal consideration and confirmation of available funding to implement a cap on tram fares."
Without the funding, Supertram fares would see short distance singles at £2.20 and long distance singles at £3. Following the January 2023 fare changes, the short distance return has increased from £3.40 to £3.70. Tram Only DayRiders are £5.00 and Tram Only MegaRiders are £18.00 but both can be bought for less on Stagecoach's app.
SYMCA estimates that it would cost £4.7m per year to keep the £2 fare on buses and trams in place. Modelling is underway on a potential increased fare cap (which would require less subsidy) or a single fare structure across the region.
UPDATE
South Yorkshire’s Mayor Oliver Coppard has this afternoon recommended that the combined authority continues to fund the £2 fare cap on trams until the end of June.
He said: “The extension of the £2 fare cap to trams has been hugely popular – we’ve sold more than a million fare capped tickets on tram since we brought it in to match the fare cap on bus.
While the fare cap on buses is now paid for by central government, we fund the tram fare cap ourselves through part of our grant funding and our Cost of Living Fund.
With the extension of the bus £2 fare cap to the end of June, we had difficult decisions to make about whether we can afford to continue funding the cap on tram fares.
Today, working closely with Stagecoach Supertram, I have recommended that the MCA continues to fund the £2 fare cap on trams until the end of June.
Without government support for the £2 cap on tram fares, we’re going to struggle to keep the cap going past the end of June, but I’ll be lobbying government for support to extend the scheme on both our bus and tram network into summer and beyond.”
Images: SYMCA
Rothbiz reported yesterday that the extension to a £2 fare cap, announced recently by the government, only relates to buses and that Supertram had announced that the price of single tickets across Sheffield and Rotherham would revert to their current prices from April 1 (see announcement below).
Now the combined authority has used a general exception notice to get the issue on the agenda for the next transport board meeting scheduled for March 30.
Notice is usually given 28 days before the meeting but this item is being considered an urgent decision.
An update from SYMCA states that they will now consider an "Extension of the £2 fare cap on tram fares from 1 April to 30 June 2023, to parallel the Department for Transport funded fare cap for busses. [sic]"
The estimated cost is £450k to £500k.
The update adds: "DfT [Department for Transport] announced extension of the fare cap on 17/02/23. It was not possible to give 28 days notice following internal consideration and confirmation of available funding to implement a cap on tram fares."
From 1 April, the £2 single fare cap on tram tickets which has been funded by the Mayoral Combined Authority will end and all adult single fares will revert to their normal prices as shown here https://t.co/id76j56YTU pic.twitter.com/VJ0vNHx6mJ
— Stagecoach Supertram (@SCSupertram) March 20, 2023
Without the funding, Supertram fares would see short distance singles at £2.20 and long distance singles at £3. Following the January 2023 fare changes, the short distance return has increased from £3.40 to £3.70. Tram Only DayRiders are £5.00 and Tram Only MegaRiders are £18.00 but both can be bought for less on Stagecoach's app.
SYMCA estimates that it would cost £4.7m per year to keep the £2 fare on buses and trams in place. Modelling is underway on a potential increased fare cap (which would require less subsidy) or a single fare structure across the region.
UPDATE
South Yorkshire’s Mayor Oliver Coppard has this afternoon recommended that the combined authority continues to fund the £2 fare cap on trams until the end of June.
He said: “The extension of the £2 fare cap to trams has been hugely popular – we’ve sold more than a million fare capped tickets on tram since we brought it in to match the fare cap on bus.
While the fare cap on buses is now paid for by central government, we fund the tram fare cap ourselves through part of our grant funding and our Cost of Living Fund.
With the extension of the bus £2 fare cap to the end of June, we had difficult decisions to make about whether we can afford to continue funding the cap on tram fares.
Today, working closely with Stagecoach Supertram, I have recommended that the MCA continues to fund the £2 fare cap on trams until the end of June.
Without government support for the £2 cap on tram fares, we’re going to struggle to keep the cap going past the end of June, but I’ll be lobbying government for support to extend the scheme on both our bus and tram network into summer and beyond.”
Images: SYMCA
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