Discussion

Meeting Outcomes

The following summary draws together the key findings and shows progress against each of the expected outcomes set for the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme.

Short Term Outcomes

General awareness of the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme in the year after it launched was high across all research respondents, and had increased between the baseline and follow-up surveys (i.e. before and after the launch of the scheme). While the key aims and objectives of the scheme also appeared to be well understood among professional stakeholders, the focus group discussions suggest they were perhaps less well known/understood among the general population.

High levels of uptake were recorded across the first year of the scheme, with 59% of all those eligible across Scotland having signed up. Uptake was higher among the older age groups, however, ranging from 53% of those aged 5-15 having signed up compared to 70% of those aged 16-21. Regional variations in uptake were also notable by local authority area.

Based on the statistical data it appears that the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme has not, as yet, had an impact on reducing the numbers of young people learning to drive. Pent up demand and capacity issues following the Covid-19 pandemic may have had an impact on current figures, while the newness of the scheme also means than many eligible young people may have already passed their test or been learning to drive when the scheme launched.

Focus group results were also mixed, with some young people expressing a strong desire to learn to drive as soon as they became old enough while others felt that they/their children were more likely to delay learning to drive due to the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme. Instances were identified, however, of young people who had become less interested in learning to drive, and others that had stopped taking lessons as a result of the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme.

More time will be needed to fully assess the success of this outcome.

Over 62 million trips had been made using the scheme (from its implementation until the end of April 2023).

Focus group feedback suggests that awareness of bus travel as a viable option was also ever present and was influencing things such as part-time job application choices (for older young people) and planning more regular recreational journeys (for both older and younger users).

Usage data suggests females had used the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme to a greater extent than males - of all the journeys made, 46% were taken by females compared to 39% taken by males. Older female focus group attendees also reported increased use for travel by bus, especially at night.

Although total household travel and transport costs have not reduced for families since the introduction of the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme, the proportion of total household travel costs being allocated to children had reduced. The proportion of parents/carers spending less than 10% of their total travel spend on their child had increased across all spending brackets. Meanwhile, travel costs appear to have reduced for many young people directly, with 41% spending between £0-£10 on this per month, representing an increase of 26 percentage points compared to before the scheme was launched.

Over half (54%) of follow-up survey respondents perceived buses to be affordable, an increase of 25 percentage points since the baseline survey, and when rating how affordable bus travel was, over a third (38%) said it was very or fairly affordable, again an increase of 12 percentage points. Similarly, there was a large decrease in the proportion of respondents who said cost was an issue they/their child experienced when using the bus, at 20% in the follow-up survey compared to 51% in the baseline.

Qualitative survey comments and focus group responses also indicated that cost was much less of an issue or a barrier to travel after the introduction of the scheme, and cost savings on transport for young people and their families was flagged as one of the main benefits of the scheme. Reported anxieties linked to the cost of travel had also decreased for young people themselves.

Medium Term Outcomes

Analysis of follow-up survey results indicated that just over a million journeys would have been made by bus regardless of the introduction of the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme. As such, these journeys would have had to be paid for - thus representing a significant cost saving for young people and their families nationally.

When considered by journey purpose, the proportions of bus users who indicated they would have taken the bus anyway ranged from 25% of those travelling for social and leisure activities to 49% travelling for an apprenticeship or training - again representing a significant saving for these respondents/families.

Survey results suggest a shift from driving/being driven towards bus use across nearly all journey purposes.

Qualitative evidence was also provided which suggests that young people are travelling more by bus and relying less on parents/carers to drive them to locations/venues and activities.

There appears, however, to also be an increase in the prevalence of short journeys being made since the introduction of the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme, suggesting the free bus travel may also have encouraged a small reduction in active travel. This was also reflected in the qualitative comments.

Across most journey purposes, over two thirds of follow-up survey respondents indicated some form of change either to how often they accessed existing locations and/or accessed new locations. The biggest impact was for social and leisure activities; however, many also noted such a change for school/college/university as well as for their job/work. Even for healthcare, around half of the respondents indicated there had been a change in location or frequency of travel. This suggests that, for many young people, the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme has increased their access to services, both new ones and those already being visited.

Long Term Outcomes:

Indications from the follow-up survey and focus groups suggest that this outcome was already being progressed, even at this early stage.

Between two thirds and three quarters of follow-up survey respondents who used the scheme indicated that they travelled more often to the same places and/or to new places for education, an apprenticeship or training, and/or for work. Qualitative comments also indicated that the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme had allowed children and young people to:

• Access/remain in schools out with their catchment area (e.g. having moved house it has allowed them to continue attending their original school);
• Consider different college and training courses than would have been possible before;
• Obtain part-time work (alongside school or studies) where this would not have been possible before, either due to a lack of opportunities locally and/or because they would have been reliant on parents driving them to/from work; and
• Cast a wider net for employment opportunities, and seek out jobs either with better pay, of greater interest/suitability to them, etc.

Concerns around the sustainability of any increased access to opportunities were also identified, however, with 28% of those who had stopped using the scheme (due to age, access to bus services, expired/lost cards, etc) having lost access to previous opportunities, including jobs. There were also concerns over costs and accessibility for those who remain in education above the age of 21.

Again, indications from the follow-up survey and focus groups suggest that this outcome was already being progressed.

Survey results indicated that the frequency of travel for social and leisure purposes had increased since the introduction of the scheme, along with frequency of travel for shopping and visiting family and friends. Similarly, many indicated that they travelled more often to the same places and/or to new places for social and leisure purposes, shopping and for visiting family and friends.

Qualitative comments also suggested that the main use of the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme was likely to be for social and leisure purposes.

Family travel by bus had also increased for many, again, often being linked to social and leisure activities, days out and even short-breaks and holidays. Siblings travelling together, and children travelling with grandparents had also notably increased and was reported across different research strands.

Again, however, it will be important to monitor the sustainability of any improvements in access to social and leisure activities going forward and as young people ‘age out’ of the scheme. This is especially the case where the cost of alternative travel modes are similar to travel by bus, but where they are seen as more efficient or direct.

At the time of writing, data was not yet available for these measures. The impact of the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme will need to be considered over a longer time period in order to assess the success of these final expected outcomes.

Key Benefits and Other Impacts

In addition to the progress made towards achieving the outcomes outlined above, a wide range of benefits and impacts were identified. These included both positive and negative impacts, as well as positive and negative unintended consequences.

In terms of the key benefits, these included:

• Early signs of a reduction in car use;
• Increased affordability and reduced travel costs/cost barrier for young people, and by extension, for their families;
• More young people moving into lower spend brackets for their travel costs, and more parents/carers spending lower proportions of their total household travel budgets on their child’s travel;
• A reduction in the proportion of young people experiencing difficulties accessing opportunities due to travel barriers - this issue had nearly halved in prevalence since the baseline survey;
• Increased access to opportunities for young people, including social and leisure activities, education, and work - just over one third of those using the scheme identified access to new opportunities;
• Greater than expected increase in independence for young people, particularly for those aged 12+;
• Improvements in young people’s perceived freedom, autonomy, confidence and responsibility as a result of the scheme;
• Supporting Covid-19-recovery (for in terms of young people’s mental health and the sustainability of bus services), as well as assistance during the cost of living crisis;
• Equality between young people - as bus travel is free to all and not reliant on an individual’s financial situation it was felt the scheme offered new or more frequent opportunities for all, removing the stress or stigma of affordability;
• Safety benefits for young people, especially when travelling at night/in the dark - while this was reported as a general benefit, it was particularly important for women and girls; and
• Increased family travel by bus as a result of the scheme - 44% of those who used the scheme said it had increased family travel by bus.

Other impacts, more negative in nature, included:

• Travel inequalities highlighted due to variable bus service provision/access to bus services and access to the scheme (this included between those with good bus links vs those with little/no access to buses, for those who desire to access the scheme but experience application issues, and for those on island communities due to the scheme not offering free ferry travel);
• Challenges in accessing the scheme due to continued application problems;
• Capacity and overcrowding issues on buses;
• A perceived increase in anti-social behaviour in and around buses;
• The exclusion of older students from eligibility; and
• Possible modal shift away from other public transport and active travel.

Conclusion

Overall, the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme was considered highly successful and beneficial for young people and their families across the first year of operation, with many more benefits and positive impacts outlined compared to emerging negative issues. In addition, the positive benefits tended to be felt more widely than the negative impacts. Cost savings, improved access to a wide range of opportunities, and increased independence and autonomy were the main benefits for young people and their families. The main negative issues were largely related to the provision, availability or capacity of bus services themselves, difficulties in relation to the application process, and perceptions of anti-social behaviour as a result of increased numbers of young people travelling by bus.

The findings from across the first year of operation indicate that the scheme is making good progress in delivering against most of the aims and expected outcomes. Evidence shows not only short and medium terms impacts being achieved, but also that some of the long term impacts were already being felt - i.e. improved access to education, employment, social and leisure opportunities. The impact on young people learning to drive was complicated by the unique situation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, and will require ongoing monitoring. Meanwhile, only a few outcomes could not be evidenced at this time, and will require large scale national datasets to become available - i.e. to identify any reduction in poverty rates and private car miles.

Ultimately, the scheme will require longer-term monitoring to determine whether observed impacts are sustainable, the scale of these impacts, and to understand any new ‘norms’ once the scheme has been fully embedded and travel choices/patterns have stabilised. Longer-term monitoring will also be required to establish whether the scheme will fully achieve all expected outcomes and to determine the scale and impact of any unintended consequences over time. However, early indications are very encouraging in relation to the extent to which the scheme is positively impacting on young peoples’ lives.