Conclusion
There was good engagement with the travel survey, which achieved a robust and statistically significant sample size for analysis.
There was also fairly good awareness of the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel scheme, with around two thirds having heard of this before taking part in the survey.
Summary of Key Findings
Bus was used heavily for travelling to education, training or work, but came second to car use across most leisure and social journeys.
COVID-19 was considered to have reduced people’s travel generally, and reduced the extent to which respondents travelled by public transport, although respondents expected these aspects of travel to increase again as the restrictions eased.
Nearly half of survey respondents felt that travel and transport was unaffordable, and as the total household spend on travel increased so too did the proportion allocated to the child’s travel expenses. Over a quarter of respondents felt they/their child was missing out on opportunities, and while this was mostly linked to social and leisure based activities, there was some evidence that difficulties with access to travel/ transport were also impacting upon educational and employment opportunities.
Safety issues related to bus travel were explored in detail, with results found to reflect those prevalent across the public transport sector, as well as across wider society. Safety issues related to bus travel were more prevalent at night compared to during the day, with key safety concerns relating to them/their child being exposed to a range of anti-social behaviour as well as bullying or harassment, coupled with a perception that no one would challenge negative behaviour or intervene in the event of an incident. The personal safety of females was also a significant concern for many. While a sizable minority reported experience of bullying and discrimination while travelling by bus, those from minority groups were significantly more likely to have experienced this. Situations ranged from verbal to physical abuse, and were generally focused on the person’s appearance or protected characteristics.
The main barriers to bus use were cost and safety concerns when travelling at night. It will be important to address these safety concerns and tackle inappropriate behaviour on board buses in order for the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel scheme to reach its full potential and support all young people to access wider opportunities.
Around three quarters of respondents thought they/their child would use the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel scheme at least once a week, with them expecting to use the bus more for leisure and social activities compared to current usage. In terms of modal shift, it would appear that most change will come from replacing car use with bus travel, although there is potential for a shift from active modes and other public transport. In terms of opening up new opportunities, most respondents who indicated they would use the free bus travel indicated they would do so to travel to the same places more often and/or to travel to new places. Over half also felt that the free bus travel would allow them/their child to travel more independently, and just under half thought this would help families to travel together by bus more often.
Taking the Evaluation Forward
While cost and safety concerns were flagged as the main issues related to travelling by bus, another key barrier to use of the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel scheme would appear to be the availability of services - this was noted to be an issue throughout the survey. As such, not all young people might be able to benefit equally from this scheme. This is an issue that will require to be monitored going forward as it could result in widening geographic inequalities (i.e. between young people who live in urban, rural and island areas).
It will also be important to consider the experiences and impacts on other groups after the Young Persons’ Free Travel scheme has been implemented. This would include other bus users who may (or may not) experience issues accessing services, have different on-board experiences, or who may change their travel behaviour as a result of the scheme. Other important areas to monitor will be the impact on other transport modes, such as taxis and other public transport, as well as any changes in the extent to which children and young people choose active modes (and any seasonal differences) going forward.
The data provided here (and across supplementary tables extracted from secondary data sources) provides a baseline against which future progress and impacts of the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel scheme can be measured. This will support the design of evaluation stages one and two (as outlined in the Introduction), and provide key pre-implementation comparison data to determine the impact of the scheme over time.
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