Bus passengers across Wales are being promised protection from fare rises this winter, with £7m of emergency help for operators hit by the price of diesel.
The Welsh Government says the money will keep essential bus, school and community transport services running through what it calls an exceptional period of fuel costs.
It will go out through councils, which the government says is the quickest way to get it to operators.
When the money stops: cheaper diesel, an empty pot or the end of March
The scheme is temporary, and it has three ways of ending. It stops when the average price of diesel stays below 170p a litre for four weeks in a row, when the £7m has been spent, or at the end of the 2026-27 financial year, whichever comes first.
The government says it is not a permanent increase and will not be carried into 2027-28.
Diesel was well above that mark last month. In early October several Swansea forecourts were charging 199p a litre.
Pump prices have been high since the Iran war began in February.
What it means for fares in Swansea Bay
First Cymru, which runs services across Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Carmarthenshire, last raised its prices in March. A single bought from the driver went from £3 to £3.10, and a day ticket from £7 to £7.30.
The operator said then that the rise was part of a regular review to balance rising operating costs. How the new money will be shared between operators has not been set out.
Young people’s fares are already fixed. The £1 single for 5 to 21-year-olds runs to March 2027.
School transport providers and community transport schemes are covered by the new grant as well as bus companies.
‘Vital connections for communities’
Deputy Minister for Transport Mark Hooper said: “We recognise the significant pressures that exceptional and sustained fuel costs are placing on bus, school and community transport services across Wales.”
He said the services help people get to “education, employment, healthcare and other essential services”, and that ministers had been working with councils and the transport sector to understand the pressures.
The scheme is called BSSG Plus, after the existing Bus Services Support Grant. The government says that grant has already gone up this year from £25.5m to £26.5m, and the separate Bus Network Grant from £42m to £44.5m.
Mr Hooper said the government would “continue to monitor fuel prices and work closely with the sector and local government”.
Control of routes, timetables and fares in south west Wales is due to pass to Transport for Wales under bus franchising, with the first services now expected in spring 2028.
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