{"id":40832,"date":"2024-11-15T14:47:09","date_gmt":"2024-11-15T14:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/?p=40832"},"modified":"2024-11-15T15:43:45","modified_gmt":"2024-11-15T15:43:45","slug":"bristol-city-council-criticises-3-bus-fare-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/2024\/11\/15\/bristol-city-council-criticises-3-bus-fare-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Bristol City council criticises \u00a33 bus fare plan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\"><video height=\"1080\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1920 \/ 1080;\" width=\"1920\" controls src=\"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/bus-fares-video.mp4\"><\/video><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Bristol Green Party have criticised the plan to increase the bus fare cap to \u00a33, in 2025.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bristol City Council has condemned the UK Government\u2019s decision to increase the cap on single bus fares from \u00a32 to \u00a33 starting in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a meeting this week, council members voiced their concerns over the impact this hike could have on public transport in Bristol. The increase was announced as part of the Chancellor\u2019s budget on October 30th, a move which the council believes undermines the government\u2019s commitment to encouraging greener transport choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Councilor Ed Fraser, who proposed the motion, stated that this rise would disproportionately affect lower-income commuters and could lead to a reduction in bus services. He added that raising the fare while continuing a freeze on fuel duties sends the wrong message, particularly at a time when affordable public transport is more important than ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized is-style-default\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"533\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/bus-533x400.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-40923\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.75;object-fit:cover;width:711px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/bus-533x400.jpg 533w, https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/bus-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/bus-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/bus-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/bus-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/bus-560x420.jpg 560w, https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/bus-80x60.jpg 80w, https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/bus-100x75.jpg 100w, https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/bus-180x135.jpg 180w, https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/bus-238x178.jpg 238w, https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/bus-640x480.jpg 640w, https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/bus-681x511.jpg 681w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 533px) 100vw, 533px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Bristol buses are vital for local commuters<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ed Fraser also shared his concerns on social media, posting on X about the motion  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\ude8c I\u2019ve put in a motion to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BristolCouncil?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@BristolCouncil<\/a> next week to call on the chancellor to freeze the bus fare cap at \u00a32.<br><br>If the chancellor refuses to do this, I\u2019m calling on the WECA mayor to look at reallocating BSIL to help keep the cap for longer in Bristol.<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/IzF49frATR\">https:\/\/t.co\/IzF49frATR<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Ed Fraser (@egwfraser) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/egwfraser\/status\/1854792377405198492?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 8, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In an interview with Ed Plowden, Plowden elaborated further on his stance:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;<em>At a time when we desperately need to decarbonise the transport system and look at different ways people travel and get them out of their single occupancy cars, we feel pushing in through a potential 50% rise in the price of a bus journey, but not putting anything on to motorists really sends out the wrong message&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The council argued that bus fares in the UK have already increased at a higher rate than motoring costs or rail fares, and the proposed rise would exacerbate this issue. According to the council, the decision risks losing key bus routes and undermining the broader efforts to promote sustainable transport options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The motion also calls for the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) and North Somerset Council to explore options for reallocating the unspent \u00a3106 million from the Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) to maintain the \u00a32 fare cap. The council is urging the Chancellor to reconsider the decision and maintain the current fare cap throughout this parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Public transport advocates argue that keeping the cap at \u00a32 is a critical step toward encouraging more people to use buses and reduce traffic congestion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bristol City Council has condemned the UK Government\u2019s decision to increase the cap on single bus fares from \u00a32 to \u00a33 starting in 2025. In a meeting this week, council members voiced their concerns over the impact this hike could have on public transport in Bristol. The increase was announced as part of the Chancellor\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":322,"featured_media":41055,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/322"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40832"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40832\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41126,"href":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40832\/revisions\/41126"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwejournalism.net\/bowernews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}