Eluned Parrott, Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Transport Minister, has today urged the Welsh Labour government to introduce a young person’s concessionary fare system as soon as possible.
In a statement in the chamber today, the Transport Minister announced that her department “is working with a number of bus operators to explore the potential to introduce a pilot young person’s concessionary fare initiative.” This follows a long running campaign by IR Cymru (Liberal Youth Wales) for Wales to introduce such a scheme.
Eluned Parrott AM said:
“The Welsh Liberal Democrats strongly believe that public transport should be made as accessible as possible for young people.
“The fact is that the majority of young people are either in full time education or they have just left education and are now looking for a job. It is simply not fair to expect them to pay the full bus fare.
“The Minister has said today that she is to look into the potential for introducing a young person’s confessionary fare scheme. I urge her to see the merits in such a scheme and to implement it as soon as possible.”
Sam Bennett, Chair of IR Cymru, added:
“A concessionary scheme for young people has been something IR Cymru have been advocating for some time now.
“This is all about fairness. If a 17 year old in Mid Wales has decided to leave school and seek practical training in order to gain employment, they should not be effectively punished for doing so by paying high travel fees. Services should be a tool to allow young people to gain training, further education, and seek employment and should not be a barrier to development.
“IR Cymru will continue to work alongside Eluned to ensure that this scheme becomes a reality.”
