East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward’s first job after taking over authority for public transport in the region will be reviewing fares and concessions.
The East Midlands Combined Authority (EMCCA) is taking over public transport responsibility from all four of its constituent councils – Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, Derby and Derbyshire – early next year.
Legally, the transfer of powers has to be completed by April – but currently is on track to be completed by the end of January.
But while prices might change in the future, in the short-term, fares and concessions will remain exactly the same as they are in all four areas.
This is because the timing of the transition of powers, staff and budgets, which will happen on January 31, is too close to the legal deadline of April 1 for the sort of detailed technical work and consultation to be done which would be required before any changes are made.
EMCCA’s scheme will commence on April 1, 2026, and, for 2026/2027, the current arrangements for each constituent council will continue so that “residents are no worse and no better off than they are currently”, documents say.
After the fare review has taken place – and a consultation held, due in the second half of next year – the new strategy and pricing would go live for the 2027-2028 financial year in April 2027.
The news was confirmed at an EMCCA Board meeting where EMCCA’s executive director for place, Edward Highfield, presented a report on the authority’s 2026/2027 Concessionary Travel Scheme.
He said: “[The review] will be a vital and complex piece of work that will look at the different options of harmonisation, the cost, the benefits and crucially the funding strategy for that.”
In June, EMCCA announced it had secured £2 billion in transport funding from the Government.
A consultation with the public, asking how they’d like the money to be used, was launched at Mansfield Bus Station on Monday, November 17.
The Mayor said at the time that the takeover was “all on plan”.
When asked if she might make transport cheaper, she said: “I think the question is about whether we can make it ultimately affordable. The word ‘cheaper’ is a challenge because what does that mean? £2? £3?
“I’m asking what people’s priorities are, which might be how much things cost – but most of the feedback I’ve had from people generally when I go around is that they want to have more services. That’s a bigger priority than perhaps making it a pound cheaper or a couple of pounds. We’ll hear from people in this consultation about whether that’s their priority.”
In Nottingham city, all of the policy and responsibility for transport including responsibility of bus services, including the Bus Service Improvement plan, infrastructure such as the park and ride sites, bus stations, bus stops, all ticketing schemes and customer interface will all become EMCCA’s responsibility.
