With the £2 bus fare scheme being extended across the country, commuters in Kent say the initiative has been beneficial for them and transformed the way they travel.
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00:00 A one-way bus ticket in Kent currently costs £2.
00:03 The Get Around for £2 scheme was first introduced back in January to help tackle the cost of
00:08 living crisis.
00:10 Since then, some say this has transformed the way they travel around Kent.
00:14 For me personally, I always used to cycle.
00:18 So I was one of those people that I used to sometimes use public transport occasionally,
00:22 but I got out of the habit of using it as a real sort of like regular means of getting
00:26 from A to B.
00:28 So as soon as it came along and my partner said, "£2 to go anywhere," that was it.
00:32 So since then, it's completely transformed how I've been using buses.
00:35 So I'm one of those people that it got me off of other modes of transport onto buses.
00:40 I love them now.
00:41 Can't stop using them.
00:42 I travel to Maidstone at least once a week from Sturry.
00:46 So I walk into Canterbury and then I'll get the £2 bus fare all the way over to Maidstone.
00:50 And it's the same with my partner because she lives about 36 miles away.
00:53 If we were to cycle, it's about 36 miles away.
00:55 So it's been an absolute godsend.
00:57 Before the £2 bus fare cap was introduced, a single local bus ticket would cost £2.80
01:03 and in some areas up to £5.
01:05 The scheme was meant to come to an end at the end of this month, but after the Prime
01:09 Minister's decision to redirect costs from the HS2 project, it's been extended until
01:14 December next year.
01:16 But despite the £2 bus fare cap making it cheaper for those using the buses, one commuter
01:20 says the services need major improvements and is even thinking of buying a car instead.
01:26 And at worst, I've waited for about an hour.
01:29 I mean, when they're good, they can be really good.
01:31 You can like, literally, I can walk out the office straight through the Pentagon and straight
01:34 onto a bus.
01:35 I mean, that's amazing.
01:36 And be home within 10 minutes.
01:38 But there are other times where they've cancelled, don't inform anybody, and then you can, let's
01:43 say, wait an hour.
01:45 It just throws everything out of joint.
01:47 And that's what makes me feel like, you know what, in the new year, I'm going to get a
01:52 car.
01:53 The Arriva bus fleet here, they are approaching, a lot of them, I think, they're approaching
01:58 their half-life where they need major overhauling, like new engines, gearboxes and that sort
02:03 of thing.
02:04 And yet they seem to run the bus service, although it's subsidised by the government,
02:09 they just seem to run it on a prerogative at times.
02:11 In a statement, a spokesperson from Arriva South, the major bus operator in Kent, said,
02:16 "Our buses in Kent are running to time in most instances, but sometimes our buses have
02:20 to wait in roadworks, which are out of our control.
02:23 In terms of safety and engineering, our vehicles are checked and maintained to the legal standards
02:27 expected from a public transport business."
02:30 It asks for customers who have complaints about specific routes and services to contact
02:34 them.
02:35 Mahima Abedin for KMTV.