New £13.5m grant sees 150,000 Bristol kids get free bus travel during school holidays

The West of England Mayoral Combined Authority has recently announced that children across the region will be offered free bus travel during the school summer holidays.

The scheme is set to run from July 19 to September 5 and has the potential to benefit some 150,000 young people, with those aged between 5 and 15 in Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire all eligible.

With no pass or registration necessary, Helen Godwin - the Mayor of the West of England - announced the new plan at Hengrove Play Park in South Bristol on Monday, explaining that it ‘would help people save money and encourage greener travel’ whilst also working to ‘inspire the next generation of bus passengers’.

“With free travel for 150,000 kids, local families will more easily have busloads of fun during the school holidays,” Ms Godwin, elected to her post just last month, added. The scheme is subject to final approvals and would apply to all registered bus services, with limited exemptions such as airport routes.

The announcement saw students from the local Perry Court E-ACT Academy join council leaders and representatives from various bus operators including First Bus, Stagecoach, and the Bath Bus Company.

Kids under the age of 5 already travel for free on most services in the region, while single fares for 5 to 15-year-olds are currently capped at £1. The initiative will be funded by the recent £13.5m Bus Grant awarded to the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority by the Department for Transport.