Bus fares capped at £1 on Sundays in run-up to Christmas

A countywide day bus ticket valid for all operators could also be created after Oxfordshire was promised an additional £1.9 m to improve bus services over the next two years.

It comes on top of £12.7m from the government in August 2022 following the council’s successful Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) application.

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The additional £1.9m of funding - known as BSIP+ – is for measures that will increase long-term patronage, help maintain service levels, ensure essential social and economic connectivity for local communities and promote innovation in the industry.

Councillor Andrew Gant, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport Management, said: “This funding shows the importance that is placed on public transport in this county and our commitment to getting people back on to the buses.

"The package of proposals represents a step change in service provision across Oxfordshire, with all the districts benefitting from some level of improvement as a result.

“It will be used to fund innovative schemes such as cut-price fares in the run-up to Christmas – both this year and next year – as well as securing services that require financial support to ensure their survival, such as those affected by the closure of Oxford’s Botley Road.”

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The council, in its role as local transport authority, established the Oxfordshire Bus Enhanced Partnership with the county’s private bus operators earlier this year.

The partnership brings together key stakeholders to deliver better services, ticketing and infrastructure.

Luke Marion, managing director of the Oxford Bus Group, said: “This is excellent news for passengers, the bus industry and the local economy.

“We have experienced a positive impact on patronage thanks to recent government fare cap schemes and this additional support for ticketing initiatives will help to further encourage passengers to try travelling with us."

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Rachel Geliamassi, managing director of Stagecoach West, said: "This additional funding is good news and has enabled Stagecoach to continue to make improvements to our services between Banbury and Oxford. "

One proposal is to create a day ticket that is valid on all operators’ services in Oxfordshire.

Both the county’s main bus providers, Go Ahead (Oxford Bus Group) and Stagecoach, offer day tickets for unlimited travel on their own services across Oxfordshire.

There are also day tickets available within the SmartZone, which covers the area in and around Oxford city, that are valid on both operators’ services.

However, there is no countywide day ticket that can be used on all operators’ services.

Money from BSIP+ is intended to be used to help create such a ticket and to support reductions in other day ticket prices to make them more attractive to passengers.

BSIP+ funding will also:

• offer financial support for the current Oxford bus network, including services affected by the Botley Road closure
• provide a new bus service between Witney, Carterton, and Swindon
• provide faster peak hour buses between Banbury and Oxford
• help retain and improve Oxford orbital services serving the hospitals, including the 700, which additionally will run on weekends for the first time.

Routes that are intended to be enhanced or improved later this financial year include:

• X40 route between Oxford, Wallingford, and Reading
• 25 service between Sonning Common and Reading
• new direct faster buses between Carterton and Oxford.

The £2 bus fare cap rises to £2.50 at the end of the month and then runs until October 2024.

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About the author 

Andy is the Trade and Tourism reporter for the Oxford Mail and you can sign up to his newsletters for free here. 

He joined the team more than 20 years ago and he covers community news across Oxfordshire.

His Trade and Tourism newsletter is released every Saturday morning. 

You can also read his weekly Traffic and Transport newsletter.