Go-Ahead: £2 Fare

Go-Ahead is the largest operator of bus services in London. They employ over 27,000 people who work hard to deliver safe, reliable and value for money services for passengers.

In 2022, the UK government announced a cap on bus journeys at £2 for at least the first three months of 2023. The aim was to help people cope with the cost-of-living crisis. And this fare would mean significant savings for people using buses in suburban and rural areas.

So, Go-Ahead approached us to help them create a compelling campaign. The challenge was to drive awareness of this great fare offer in a way that all their regional bus operating companies could adapt and use. 

Expectedly, the audience for this was broad. And although the primary motivator was cost, there were a variety of other drivers.

As our Design Director, Simon Mannering says, “For some, it was about gaining more independence and new ways to connect with family and friends. Others were drawn to the chance to travel further at a reasonable price or to try a new way of commuting.” This lead to discovering new activities both locally and beyond.

Altogether, these benefits make the bus a compelling option for non-users as well.

Our campaign solution was crafted using behavioural science. This helped us create messaging that was as clear and compelling as possible for our audiences.

Using a polaroid framing device and a handwritten script, we posed the question ‘where could the £2 fare take you?’.

This showcased the wide range of opportunities this affordable mode of transport offers to those who use it.

We then turned this into a toolkit, so that any of the Go-Ahead bus operating companies across the country could access it. They could then use the assets to suit their own mix of paid and owned digital and out of home assets. 

In the week before Christmas, the £2 fare was launched by the Minister for Transport at Go-Ahead’s Gateshead depot.

The bus fare proved so successful, that the government extended it until June 2023.

In line with this extension, to reflect seasonality and keep the campaign fresh, we created an updated set of visuals and messages to help extend the lifespan and appeal of the campaign. 

In February 2023, Transport Focus (the UK’s independent transport watchdog) revealed the results of a survey designed to understand the impact of the government’s bus fare cap on passengers across all bus operators, which we really encouraging.

Out of 1,000 people surveyed, 53 percent said they were aware of the new fare, with two-thirds of regular bus users aware of it.

Seven percent of respondents said that they were using the bus more often due to cheaper fares, while 32 percent said that they might use buses more but haven’t yet. 

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