North East mayor Kim McGuinness has urged the Government to make the £2 bus-fare cap permanent instead of extending it short term.
Speaking at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, Ms McGuinness welcomed the latest extension but said temporary funding leaves passengers, operators and regional leaders in limbo.
She said: "People shouldn't have to wait for every Budget to find out what their bus to work is going to cost.
"We urgently need this government to put affordable bus fares on a long-term funding plan.
"Right now, bus fares are in the same political purgatory shared by fuel duty, with ongoing temporary freezes."
Ms McGuinness has introduced the £2.50 Mayor’s Fares scheme across the North East and earlier this year called for a lower cap, which is due to bring fares down to £2 in January.
But funding is guaranteed only until 2027, leaving the scheme’s future uncertain.
She said: "In January 2023 we saw the first bus fare cap introduced, and then elections approach and it was extended again.
"We saw the cap kept but increased, and we lobbied to keep it in for longer.
"And then it came down but for a year.
"Change after change. All in the right direction, but now we need to be bolder."
Ms McGuinness wants the cap guaranteed for a full Parliament and made a key pledge in Labour’s next manifesto.
She said: "It feels like every few months we go back to government asking how much longer can we stretch it out, and then we meet ministers who know they will not be able to raise bus fares politically but are reluctant to just make the cap a permanent feature of government policy.
"Let’s be bolder.
"Let’s just cap bus fares at this level for the life of a Parliament.
"Give mayors the funds to keep fares down.
"Make life more affordable for the people of the north."
The mayor has made affordability a priority, from bus fares to childcare support.
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She recently wrote to Chancellor John Healey, urging him to give mayors more freedom over how they spend their budgets.
Ms McGuinness said: "Give mayors the freedom and long-term funding to get on with the job and we can make everyday life more affordable.
"In the North East that means cheaper buses, cutting Metro fares and building a safer transport network people can rely on."
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