Bus fares set to be cut in West Midlands as lockdown ends

National Express West Midlands has revealed daily and weekly fares would be cut on June 21 – when all rules are expected to be lifted.

The price of a peak day ticket will be cut from £4.60 to £4 and the price of a weekly ticket falling from £17.50 to £15 – back to its 2012 price.

And the company will bring in contactless weekly ticket price capping in June this year – with people being allowed to travel as much as they like.

A child ticket will be cut from £2.50 to £2 a day and it's estimated the average commuter will save more than £130 a year on bus travel due to the move.

National Express West Midlands managing director David Bradford said: "We're delighted to be cutting the price of bus tickets this summer to help get our region moving again.

"While most bills always go up, we're doing the opposite. Half of bus customers will pay less than they do now – nobody will pay more. These bus fare cuts mean travelling all day will cost less than the price of a burger.

"You will be able to catch as many buses as you like all day long and just wave a contactless card at the ticket machine. You don't need to work out what's the best price – we'll do that automatically and you'll never pay more than you need to.

"We know that when people try buses, they like them and keep using them. Getting people onto buses will build back our high streets, get people back into jobs and education, clean up our air and help the UK meet its carbon targets."

People will need to show a contactless bank card – or the banking app on their phone – to the bus ticket machine each time they get on. At the end of seven days, they will be charged no more than the cost of a weekly ticket – however many journeys they made.

National Express West Midlands will be the first company outside London to offer this kind of flexibility to customers.

West Midlands Mayor Andy Street said: "This cut in fares is a fantastic decision from National Express that will help get our region back on the move as we come out of the pandemic, by not only making buses cheaper but simpler to use too.

"National Express is part of the West Midlands Bus Alliance and one of the main deliverables of that is an agreement to keep fares low. In fact, we have worked together to ensure a fare freeze over the last four years, with the price of the day ticket at the same £4.60 price since 2017.

"Now, with today’s announcement, we believe we will have the cheapest bus fares in England – cutting costs for millions of people at a challenging time, linking them to new opportunities and persuading more people to switch to public transport for a cleaner, greener way of getting around."