Bus pass plan may mean £1 teen student fares (From Worcester News)

Bus pass plan may mean £1 teen student fares

10:50am Thursday 16th February 2012 in News By David Paine, @davidpaineWN #worcsnews

Bus pass plan may mean £1 teen student fares

COLLEGE students and older teenagers with or without jobs might be able to travel for £1 a journey if a new bus pass scheme is adopted.

When the Conservative-ruled county council’s budget is discussed at County Hall today opposition Liberal Democrat councillors will table an amendment which seeks to help 16 to 19-year-olds at a time when all departmental budgets, but particularly in youth services, are being slashed.

It is no secret that bosses at County Hall are trying to cut the overall budget by up to £70 million by the year 2015 as a result of reduced government funding and the Liberal Democrat group are proposing to pay for this scheme in part by reducing senior management costs by about five per cent and using money underspent in various departments this year.

The scheme, if adopted, would also part-fund itself with teenagers having to pay a £25 fee for the bus pass and £1 for every journey they take.

Despite that, Lib Dems claim their scheme will still be cheaper for youngsters to use the buses when compared with what students have to pay on an annual basis – at least £547 for an annual ticket.

Councillor Liz Tucker, the party’s leader at County Hall, said: “I think this would be extremely well used by all young people aged 16 to 19 whether they are at school, college or not.”

There is one minor problem with the proposal though, as it is not yet clear whether youngsters would have to pay each time they caught a connecting bus or just the flat fee taking them all the way to their desired destination.

Last-minute tinkering with the budget is notoriously unpopular with the Conservative administration but if this amendment gets enough backing from the Tories today then the Lib Dems would like to get the scheme up and running for the start of the next academic year in September with a view to a full roll-out next year.