£1 bus fare used for millions of journeys in Lancashire set to be scrapped from September

The cost of an evening and Sunday bus journey will double

Hello and welcome to The Lancashire Lead.

More than nine million £1 bus journeys have been had in Lancashire since 2023 as part of wider bus discount schemes that previously included the £2 cap on all journeys.

The £1 cap has been a welcome cost saver during a cost-of-living crisis that is very much still active - but from September, it is expected that the option will be taken away.

Today’s edition explores how that will look, why the decision has been made and calls for it to stay.

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Lancashire briefing

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£1 bus fare used for millions of journeys in Lancashire set to be scrapped from September

A Stagecoach service in Lancashire

By Luke Beardsworth

The £1 bus fare used for millions of journeys in Lancashire will come to an end this year under new plans.

A report to the Lancashire Combined County Authority (LCCA), the body led by the leaders of Lancashire County Council, Blackburn with Darwen Council and Blackpool Council, will propose on Monday (22 June) to increase the £1 bus fares to £2 from September 2026.

The £1 bus journeys, which applied after 7pm through the week and for all of Sunday, were described as financially unviable by both Preston Bus and Blackpool Transport but otherwise saw wide use across the bus network using funding provided by central government.

It was launched in conjunction with the original central government backed £2 daytime fare cap which has subsequently increased to £3.

The report says that a real-terms drop in government funding, coupled with other increasing costs which could include fuel as an example, mean that the scheme has now become unaffordable.

The report states: “As part of a consolidated Local Transport Consolidated Funding Settlement from April 2026, the LCCA is set to receive £18.6m of Local Authority Bus Grant (LABG) revenue funding for 2026/27.

“Despite this funding containing substantial uplifts in capital investment, it does in fact equate to a reduction of circa. £560,000 in revenue funding when compared to the combined Bus Grant funding received previously by the three Constituent Councils in 2025/26.”

The report acknowledges that the increase in the fare is highly likely to prove unpopular due to the ongoing cost of living pressures. It says that younger and working age people will be the most adversely affected as community costs increase.

But the report adds that an increase now will soften the blow for residents in April 2027 should the national £3 fare cap come to an end. This, however, is far from confirmed.