New smart ticketing scheme for school pupils

The Home to School Transport Initiative will provide pupils with either a Kidz or a Young Scot card which will include smart tickets required to allow travel for each student at specific times during the school day.

It has been delivered in partnership between Transport Scotland, bus operators and local councils and schools from East Lothian, Argyll & Bute, and Western Isles.

The scheme, which is open to every local authority in Scotland, will not only provide an opportunity to access smart travel, but also provide the capability to introduce smart services offered by the bus operators in the future.

Transport Minister Keith Brown said:

“This innovative project is a welcomed development in smart ticketing which will benefit pupils travelling to school by bus across Scotland.

“The use of smart technology to enable one card to fulfill many purposes is aligned to Transport Scotland’s long term vision that all journeys on Scotland’s bus, rail, ferry, subway and tram networks can be accessed using some form of smart ticketing or payment.

“Travel is just one use of the Young Scot card and hopefully this initiative will encourage users to take advantage of the wider benefits available to them.”

Malcolm MacFadyen, Head of Facility Services at Argyll & Bute Council said:

“Argyll and Bute Council is delighted to be part of this initiative. Anything which makes travelling easier and more convenient for the people who use our transport services is to be welcomed.”

Michael Veitch, Transport spokesperson for East Lothian Council said:

“This innovative scheme will not only make travelling much easier for pupils in schools across East Lothian, and save on administrative overheads, but it will also enable us to work together with travel operators to provide more accurate planning data to provide the best service possible in the future. Using this information we will continue to improve public transport across the county.”

Comhairle nan Eilean Siar Transport Manager, David Smart said:

“This project is the first step towards the introduction of smart ticketing on the Western Isles and we’re pleased to be involved in this partnership.

“We are committed to delivering greater convenience, ease of travel, and access to Comhairle services and we see smart ticketing as an important way of delivering that objective.”

The automated smart process ensures greater convenience and ease of use for pupils, reduced administrative overheads, use based invoicing and greater, accurate planning information for councils and operators.