New, lower, bus fares will be rolled out across the whole of Greater Manchester tomorrow.
We went out to see what the people of Bolton think of the new caps.
The change in bus fares are part of a major transport overhaul to make it more London-style.
Next year, Bolton will be the first authority to have its buses nationalised.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham brought forward the reduction in fares to tomorrow in efforts to help ease the cost-of-living crisis.
A single adult ticket on buses across Greater Manchester will be a maximum of £2, with an adult dayrider which provides unlimited journeys being a maximum of £5, while a child under the age of 16 will pay £1 for a single and £2.50 for a dayrider.
This is compared to the current system, where with bus services spread across multiple different operators, an adult single ticket can cost anything from £1.50 to £5 depending on the journey, and a daysaver can cost as much as £6.40.
Aaron Cunningham, aged 19, from Newbury, pays from £3.50 up for single tickets and £5.40 and up for dayriders on Diamond and Anybus.
He said: “It’ll make it a little bit easier. Cheaper bus tickets definitely need to be done.
“For someone like me, I have to go to work every day. It makes it a lot easier for students too, I only just came out of college.
“Personally I think all bus tickets should be the same. I’m happy to pay five pounds for a dayrider.
“For me, I have to walk quite far to get to a Diamond bus to get here, as all the other buses nearer are different operators, and it would be too much to pay for both.”
Kieran Warden, aged 30, from Tonge Moor, said: “The fare change wouldn’t help myself personally, but for other people I think it would probably make a difference.
“I think they should do more promotional offers, there could be more to encourage people to use buses more. Having better service would help too.
“Going to work it’s so-so.”
Becky McClaren, aged 36, from Tottington, paid £6.40 for her daysaver today on Diamond buses.
She said: “I was thinking it ends up being cheaper having a car.”
On the fare reduction, she said: “Yeah definitely, that’s quite a big difference. I live in Tottington and you’re a bit cut off there.
“I think if they were able to bring the monthly buses down, it would help more than anything.”
Jose Centeio, aged 31, from Leigh, gets a £20.60 weekly ticket from Anybus.
He said: “I think it’s good, you see minimum wage going up by two pence, three pence, while the bus is going up by a pound, so it’s fair enough.”
Jose, whose weekly ticket won’t have a fare reduction, said: “If I buy a weekly ticket, there’s not going to be any benefit for me.”
Tracy Hopgood, aged 53, from Farnworth, pays over £6 for a dayrider. She said:
“For me if I were doing one day, I’ve been paying £6 something a day, so it would save me a couple of pounds.
“A lot of people buy monthly and weekly tickets, I don’t understand why are they not changing all of it. It’s a good idea buy they should be thinking about the bigger picture.
“From a mental health perspective people rely on buses to go to places that keep them well or family that they haven’t seen in a long time.
“And with the cost of everything when you’re having to think about spending your money on food or the bus, that can be taken away.”
Lauren Barton, aged 28, from Horwich, paid £9.60 for return tickets from Horwich to Bolton for her and her daughter.
She said: “It will be very beneficial for me. I think it will take a bit of pressure off people, and it will probably make me choose to get the bus to work more if it is cheaper.”
Gary Bennett, aged 39, from Breightmet, gets a monthly Anybus ticket which costs £74.
He said: “I only need it mainly to get to my morning job. I think it’s a lot of money that they charge, they never run on time as well, it sometimes makes me late.
“Even if they reduce the monthly bus by £5 it would be better than nothing.”
Lorna Griffiths, aged 47, from Tonge Moor, said: “I think it’s a good idea, especially TY cost of living. I get a weekly ticket, I use it for work.
“Every little helps these days.”
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