Price Changes and New Tickets - 3rd August 2025

Bus fares from Sunday 3 August 2025

Bus fares in Cornwall are currently subsidised in one of two ways. Single journeys are currently capped at £3 through the Government’s national bus fare cap scheme until 2027, while other journeys are subsidised through Cornwall Council’s reduced fares pilot, including the school summer holiday reduction on the family ticket to £10.

Reduced fares pilot 

In 2019 Cornwall Council was awarded £23.5m from the Department for Transport to deliver a bus fares pilot (BFP). Bus operators are reimbursed the difference between the fare that the public pay and the fare that operators would have charged in the absence of the pilot. Given the rural nature of Cornwall, the aim of this pilot was to determine the impact lower fares would have on passenger numbers in an area of the country where many live far from their nearest town. The pilot was due to start in April 2020 however due to the Covid-19 pandemic the pilot was postponed until April 2022.

Through the reduced fares pilot the Transport for Cornwall (TfC) partnership (which includes Cornwall Council and bus operators, such as Go Cornwall Bus and First Bus) has been able to significantly cut the cost of bus fares, as well as trial new ticket options for people making regular journeys. 

Over the past three and a half years, there have been over 10 million tickets sold and 18 million journeys using discounted tickets offered through the BFP and the national bus fare cap but as the pilot is now entering its final phase, prices will need to reflect their commercial value by the end of 2025.

The increase in passenger journeys made during the pilot has meant that while some ticket prices are increasing, we have been able to keep them below what they would have been if the pilot had not taken place, for example, the Adult Day ticket which from August will cost £9. This is the same price passengers paid for the ticket in 2019. Today, without the reduced fares pilot this ticket would cost over £12.

What changes will come into effect from 3 August 2025? 

We have already reduced the cost of a family day ticket to £10 – giving unlimited travel across Cornwall for two adults and up to four children (up to 16 years of age) during the school summer holidays.

We want to continue to provide discounted fares for passengers for as long as possible during 2025. However, as we are coming to the end of the funding available for the bus fares pilot, we are increasing the cost of some of our fares, while working with bus operators to continue to offer discounted bus fares options. Child fares, with the exception of the monthly child ticket, and young person fares will remain frozen until the end of 2025.

Child Month ticket

We appreciate that many families use the ‘Child Month’ ticket for journeys to and from school and as a result have kept the price at £65 since October 2024. We will now need to make some small adjustments while protecting passengers from large fare increases. We have worked with bus operators to bring two small changes to our monthly fares, while still offering a great value option:

• Child Month ticket will cost £70, a £5 price increase since October 2024
• 16-18 years old Month ticket will cost £75, a £10 price increase since October 2024.

In order to avoid misuse, we will be asking that passengers or their parents/carers provide a form of age verification when buying a Child or 16-18 year old month ticket through the TfC App. For more information visit the Fares & tickets - Transport for Cornwall web page. All other Child fares remain unchanged and available for those Under 19's

Our bus drivers will also exercise their discretion and may ask for prove of ID when tickets are scanned on the bus, if necessary.

See the table below for more information for the full price changes. Please note the price of a single journey will continue to cost a maximum of £3 until 2027 through the government’s National Bus Fare Cap scheme.

* Requires age verification