Kevin Fitzpatrick & Sarah Spina-Matthews News, Manchester
A new scheme halving the cost of bus travel in Greater Manchester for young adults will help those who feel “thrown in the deep end” after growing too old for the council’s free bus travel scheme for 16-18 year olds.
Earlier this week, Mayor Andy Burnham announced the half-price 18-21 pass, reducing the cost of unlimited bus travel for young adults to £40, rather than £80, each month.
Fatima Bangoura said she had been struggling with travel costs since turning 19, having previously used the Our Pass travel card.
She said: “I use the bus every single day, and I spend a minimum of £20 a week on travel, so for me to be able to spend £40 on a month of travel – I’m going to be saving so much!”
EPA“And that’s money I could be putting towards other things.”
Ms Bangoura, who works at a youth organisation in Manchester, said the half-price buss scheme would help to “ease the burden” on young people like her in the years immediately after finishing school.
Our Pass gives 16-18 year olds free bus travel across Greater Manchester
“You’ve not paid for travel for two years, and all of a sudden you’ve been thrown into the deep end,” said Ms Bangoura.
“You have to work and you have to calculate however much you’re going to use every week on travel,” she said.
“So this scheme… [is] kind of easing us into paying for travel.”
Around 150,000 young people are estimated to be eligible for the scheme, Transport for Greater Manchester said.
The mayor said he hoped the scheme would make the region’s Bee Network more financially sustainable, by encouraging young people to buy monthly passes.
He cited a “drop off” of young people using the network after turning 18.
“We’re trying to capture young people as permanent Bee Network customers,” he explained.
