Cumbria Tourism says subsidised bus fares have been transformational for visitor, worker and community travel – offering a lifeline for many hospitality workers on their daily commute, as well as encouraging visitors to make more eco-friendly transport choices as they travel around Cumbria.
A £2 bus fare cap in England ran until December 2024, with a £3 fare cap currently in force until the end of 2025; this is already proving to be a positive step in increasing sustainable transport for the benefit of all. In fact, 9% of businesses taking part in Cumbria Tourism’s latest business tracker research reported that the subsidised bus fares have supported an overall increase in visitors travelling by bus.
As Cumbria’s Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP), Cumbria Tourism has also been working closely with tourism businesses – alongside partners such as Stagecoach, Cumberland Council and Westmorland & Furness Council – to help open up new ways for local hospitality workers to get to and from their workplaces. For example, recent success stories include more early morning bus and evening timetables to better suit hospitality workers.
The subsidised bus fares are another part of this bigger project to help make flexible worker transport available to the right people at the right times. So Cumbria Tourism has now launched an easy online survey here to highlight the importance of affordable public transport for local people getting to work. Hospitality workers have until Thursday 17 April to complete the survey.
Managing Director of Cumbria Tourism, Gill Haigh, says: “The original £2 cap on bus fares was a massive support for visitor, worker and community travel, with local residents and workers continuing to benefit from the £3 fare in recent months.
“A rural, geographically diverse county like Cumbria relies on affordable, easily accessible public transport and these subsidised fares really are making a positive difference to people’s lives. However, there are no guarantees that the fare cap will continue beyond this year, so we are actively making the case at Westminster for retaining the current arrangements longer term so they can benefit even more people.”
She adds: “We’re working with regional and national partners including UKHospitality, the Tourism Alliance, VisitEngland, the Federation of Small Businesses and Cumbria Chamber of Commerce to underline just how value this measure is to local communities, workers and visitors.
“Further first-hand evidence from bus users themselves is also tremendously valuable, so I would urge anyone who uses Cumbria’s bus network to travel to work to fill in our quick survey and make their individual voices heard too.”