£2 Single Fare Cap FAQ

£2 fares | FAQs

What exactly is the £2 bus fares cap?
• The cost of a single bus fare is currently be a maximum of £2, until 16th August 2025. This is being partly funded by the Government, and partly funded by Kent County Council, to help ease cost of living pressures.
• The cap intends to help people save money on their travel costs and encourage more people to choose buses for local journeys and beyond.

What journeys does it cover?
• The £2 single fare covers all journeys by participating bus operators. Fastrack is participating, so any journey you take on our services will be included.
• On our services, return fares are available and these will be reduced to a maximum of £4.

Is every bus company taking part?
• No. A list of all bus companies taking part is available here.

What payment methods are included? You can pay for the £2 fare in the following ways:
• Using Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay or Google Pay to tap on, tap off the bus
• Buying a special £2 single ticket on our app, which must be activated less than 15 minutes before boarding the bus
• Using Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay or Google Pay to buy multiple tickets from the driver
• Cash on the bus

My usual fare is below £2. Does this mean it will go up to £2?
• Fares below £2 remain unchanged, so you will not pay any more than usual for your journey.

Does this cap cover child fares as well as adult fares?
• Yes.

I have a concessionary ticket and get free/discounted travel. Will I have to pay £2?
• Nobody will pay more than they usually do for a journey. If you were previously paying less than £2, or if your journey was free of charge, nothing changes.

Will the price of day, and weekly tickets and caps, as well as longer term tickets, change?
• No, the price of these tickets and caps will be unchanged, so you may save if you buy £2 tickets for each journey instead.
• If you are making several journeys per day, normal day and week tickets are still available which may remain the best option. 

If fares are capped, do I still have to ‘tap off’ when I get off the bus as well as ‘tap on’?
• Yes, you still need to tap off and tap on, in order to ensure we can calculate the correct fare.

What happens if I change buses – do I have to pay £2 twice?
• Yes, you do. The fare cap only applies to a journey on a single bus. Fastrack offers a £3 one-hour ticket, which can save you money if you are changing between Fastrack services. On services B & C, you can remain on the bus at Dartford Home Gardens, and do not need to pay for an additional single fare.

When does the £2 fare cap end?
• The government's £2 fare cap agreement ended on 31 December 2024. The government funded a new £3 fare cap, which will be in place from 1 January 2025, and from this date Kent County Council will be providing additional funding to keep Fastrack fares at the £2 cap. After 16 August 2025, expect fares to rise to meet the government's £3 bus fare cap.