Some young people are paying up to £45 a week for the privilege of accessing education using public transport. Why are prices so high? There are many factors on how prices are set out by operators, mayors, government or travel executives. For example, train companies follow strict rules set out by the government on fare prices. But they can enter an arrangement with the mayors or local authorities to offering discount schemes. For example, South Yorkshire offers half-price train tickets for people aged between 16 and 18 to travel anywhere within South Yorkshire. But this raises the cross-boundary issue as young people travelling to West Yorkshire would be classed as adults although they are 16 and studying at college.
Some areas in the UK charge young people adult fares when they are between 16 and 18 and travelling to college. Lincolnshire and North Yorkshire are the two areas which do not offer discounts and although schemes are available, these have strict requirements that most young people can’t meet or afford. One young person who lives in Lincolnshire said they pay up to £20 a week to travel by bus to college.
Another travelled from Huddersfield to Barnsley and paid around £34 a week using various discounts – it could have been around £55 a week without them. This reduces opportunities for working-class and middle-class young people to attend an outstanding college or school. Young people should not be worried about budgeting for transport and food every week. Fares should be capped to give them the best opportunities.
Great Manchester is offering young people between 16 and 18 free bus travel with Our Pass. At a Transport 4 North event, Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said he gets loads of emails from young people thanking him and sharing how they were able to explore Manchester and access education more easily. Now he wants to go further by introducing a price cap on bus travel to encourage more people back to the bus.
Most areas do offer discounted travel cards for young people. Please check with your local council to see what travel discount schemes operate in your area. For example, South Yorkshire has introduced Zoom Beyond 18 to 21 travel passes, which offer a discount on single bus and tram fares at 80p. Other areas such as West Yorkshire travel discounts up to 25 and beyond if you study full-time at university.
Apply for travel discount cards today locally and get help travelling to school, sixth form and colleges:
Discount cards: https://www.gov.uk/subsidised-college-transport-16-19
Free school Transport: https://www.gov.uk/free-school-transport
Railway discount cards:
16 – 17 Railway card: https://www.16-17saver.co.uk/
16 – 25 Railway card: https://www.16-25railcard.co.uk/
