The future

The following section sets out the evidenced challenges and opportunities pertaining to transport and concessionary fares for young people. These have been identified from a range of sources, including a review of existing policy and strategy documents, data analysis and stakeholder engagement.

Challenges

Accessibility, availability and reliability of public transport offerings
Affordability of public transport fares
Awareness of the current concessionary fare offerings
Emissions reductions and environmental concerns with regards to private car use
Safety of active travel and safety on public transport in light of COVID-19
Uncertainty over the likely uptake and operational financial implications given limited date on young people’s travel patterns, the continuing impact of the pandemic and consumers response to changes in price

Opportunities

Reducing inequalities by improving affordability of transport through enhanced subsidy or free fares for young people to support access to jobs, education, training
Promoting and increasing health and wellbeing through active travel initiatives
Taking action against climate change by encouraging modal change from private car ownership to public transport (targeting young people – often first-time car buyers)
Delivering inclusive economic growth by growing demand and increasing passenger figures and enabling young people to access work, education and training through public transport services
Encouraging use of active travel infrastructure through active travel and more affordable access to bike initiatives

Availability, accessibility and reliability of public transport

A particular challenge in rural and remote areas is service levels, with stakeholders citing limited transport options and poor reliability of services which are in place. Feedback from respondents spoke of the absence of, or limitations to, public transport offerings in their community, leading to the inability to make use of concessionary travel offers. Reliability and punctuality (particularly of bus services) were common themes within the discussions. For participants in employment, late running buses often meant they were late for work which in turn led to a loss of wages.

During our engagement with young people, a number of people cited private car use was due to the unreliability of public transport.

Affordability of public transport fares

Transport costs were identified as a key consideration for local authorities beyond crisis provision for tackling child poverty in the context of COVID-19 by the Improvement Service. The child poverty priority groups have particularly high poverty rates, including lone parent households (41%); households where the mother is aged under 25 (53%); and minority ethnic households (43%).

Awareness and complexity of concessionary fare offerings

Feedback from the Poverty Alliance events highlighted that some transport users were simply unaware of concessionary travel offers and programs. The time required to research the best prices and discounts is a luxury which many are unable to afford, particularly when travelling at short notice or in the event of an emergency (e.g. travel to hospital.) Researching fares also generally relies on internet connections, which are not always available. Research undertaken by the Poverty Alliance (see Annex B) during the COVID-19 period found that out of a group of 10 young people, only one young person was receiving discounted travel via a student bus pass and a young person’s Railcard. However, as this young person often travelled before 10am they were not able to take advantage of their Railcard. None of the young people in the study were aware that they could use their Young Scot Card to get discounted travel.

Safety and perceptions of safety on public transport in light of COVID19

During the pandemic, public transport usage has been discouraged. The COVID-19 crisis in 2020 caused unprecedented economic shocks around the world, the UK, and Scotland. It also caused people to dramatically and suddenly change their travel behaviour. It may be some time before we see a return to the numbers of 2019 using buses and trains – indeed, with an increase in home working, these numbers may not return. Young people highlighted concerns and anxieties around health on public transport over the past 10 months (linked to the pandemic) though they did caveat these as being short-term and expected to not be an issue in future years. With public messaging issued advising people to avoid public transport unless absolutely necessary, the rolling back of this narrative is likely to take some time.

Safety of Active Travel

During engagement with Young Scot and the Scottish Youth Parliament, safety concerns were raised regarding active travel. Research from Sustrans evidenced that in Scotland twice as many men as women cycle once or twice a week for transport. Interventions to promote active travel and increased cycle infrastructure, along with affordable access to cycles for young people, could assist in addressing the gender balance longer term. Ensuring such intervention includes family friendly cycles (such as cargo bikes so that parents and carers can transport their children too) would be hugely beneficial to further addressing these issues.

Copenhagen has developed the brand of the bicycle and its relationship to the wider city. Marketing the bicycle and focusing on the normalisation of journeys for all groups of society has led to high proportions of children also cycling to and from school. The protected lanes in Copenhagen have also been designed and built to accommodate cargo bikes so that parents and carers can transport their children too. As of 2018, 26% of all families in Copenhagen own a cargo bike.

Availability and funding of services

There is tension between funding more services and reducing or eliminating fares. This is echoed in the stakeholder feedback on affordability and availability being the two biggest challenges cited discussing public transport with young people. While reducing fares can in some circumstances increase total revenue, enabling additional investment or reducing subsidy requirements, eliminating fares altogether requires additional public funding or reductions in costs, most likely by reducing services or investment.

Rural areas in particular already claim to derive less benefit from travel concessions as they have fewer services on which to use them. Building free transport links between rural communities could bring forward the possibility of economic regeneration in the Highlands, the Scottish Borders, and rural Fife, where greater interconnectivity and public investment could instigate growth and begin to reverse the exodus of young people from small towns and villages.

Reducing Inequalities and Delivering Inclusive Economic Growth

Access to employment, training, education, leisure, cultural activities and other services has been long recognised as a key component in measuring the social inclusion of different groups within any country’s population. This relates to the quality and quantity of transport available as well as the cost of travelling by different modes. The objective of ‘social inclusion’ is central to decisions relating to investments in sustaining and improving bus services and to extend (or create) the provision of safer pedestrian and cycle routes.

Whilst cost is one component to consider, the availability of transport is also critical. Stakeholder feedback has indicated that bus service provision can fall short of young people’s needs, with, for example, limited options available for evening travel or attending events, particularly within rural areas. Bus journeys tend to be longer than the equivalent journey time by car. Facilitating some form of ownership of transportation modes (e.g. bikes) could further assist in giving independence to young people and supporting access to opportunities.

Under the Young Persons Guarantee, the Scottish Government have committed to ensuring that everyone aged between 16 and 24 has the opportunity of work, education or training. By providing concessionary (or free) transport for young people aged 19-26 this would assisting in ensuring transport does not act as a barrier to these young people accessing these opportunities, and that young people can go on to access further opportunities in the years after without worrying about the prohibitive costs (at a time when wages are often lower at the start of their career).

Taking Climate Action

Rapid action to reduce car use across society will only be fair and garner public support if it takes place in parallel with changes to our transport system to give service users decent, clean and affordable ways of travelling to work, education and services, by foot, bike or public transport. To meet our targets on climate change, it will be necessary to recognise the societal shifts and incentives that will be needed for people to be able to live without private car ownership.

Further work to consider interventions aimed at young people (a group who will be first-time car buyers) could promote considerable long-term shift to more sustainable travel by embedding the use of public transport, or active travel, in people’s behaviours from an early age.

Improving Our Health and Wellbeing

This year’s Programme for Government committed to promoting lifelong health and wellbeing and to promoting equality and helping our young people fulfil their potential. Lockdowns have taught us about the importance of considering the quality of the environment that people live in and creating the conditions that promote healthier lifestyles. There has been largescale and long-term investment in active travel infrastructure, access to bikes, and behaviour change schemes to promote walking, cycling and wheeling. We will also work with local government to rethink how we can build‑in these quality of life and health-enhancing improvements for the communities we live in. To deliver on our health goals, climate goals, and economic goals it is important that access is equitable for all young people, not only those who can afford it. By making further investments in to these areas, we will also be ensuring that further pressures are lifted from the NHS as longer-term health and wellbeing will improve as a consequence.

< Previous | Contents | Next >