Council maintains low fares in Taunton

Somerset Council is maintaining low bus fares for the Taunton Town Zone in an effort to ensure bus use keeps growing in popularity.

Since the introduction of the Government-funded £1 fare 18 months ago there has been a nearly 30% rise in bus use in Taunton and the Council wants to keep supporting this.

Following a recent Council review into fares and revenue it was clear a slight increase was needed to keep services in Taunton sustainable. From 1 June this will be £1.50 for any adult single fare and 80p for a child. The new fares will be reviewed at the end of this year.

The fare for the Park and Ride service in Taunton remains £1 for a single fare.

“The new fare is still less than half the cost of a single journey five years ago” – Somerset Council’s Lead Member for Transport and Digital, Cllr Richard Wilkins

Somerset Council’s Lead Member for Transport and Digital, Cllr Richard Wilkins, said: “The Council has been able to use ring-fenced funding from the Government’s Bus Service Improvement Plan grant to subsidise capped fares but this money only goes so far.

“However, despite growing financial demands and the need to support other bus services we are pleased to still be able to offer significantly capped fares for Taunton.

“The new fare is still less than half the cost of a single journey five years ago.”

The Council received nearly £13 million in funding from Government after submitting an ambitious bid through its BSIP in 2021. As well as capping fares money has helped support vital bus services in the county, funded evening bus services, and could help fund a range of other proposals to improve reliability such as bus lanes.