Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he is taking steps to increase access to affordable public transport options for people aged between 16 and 24 in Newcastle.

The Government introduced a £2 cap on single bus fares in England outside London on 1 January 2023 to help all passengers save on their regular travel costs. The Government is investing nearly £600 million to deliver the scheme, including additional funding redirected from HS2 to keep the cap in place until the end of 2024. There are currently over 140 bus operators and more than 5,000 routes in the scheme, including routes in Newcastle.

The Government is also providing over £2 billion to help local transport authorities (LTAs) deliver their Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIP). This includes the announcement by the Prime Minister in October 2023 that a further £1 billion would be redirected from HS2 to deliver better bus services in the North and the Midlands.

The North East has so far been allocated £175 million to deliver their BSIP, which can be used to support any bus service improvements that the local authority – working with local bus operators – know their community needs, including introducing local fares initiatives in addition to the Government’s £2 bus fare cap. Thanks to this funding, Transport North East has launched a £1 fare for the under 22s and a £3 daily ticket for under 22s offering unlimited travel on bus, Metro and Ferry throughout the region.

More widely, the North East is now eligible for the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement following their Devolution Deal and, upon election of a Mayor, we will work with them on their delivery plans to support local transport within the region. Up to £563m is available from their CRSTS 1 funding settlement (from 2022 – 2027). CRSTS 2 allocations were announced as part of Network North in October, with the North East indicatively allocated a further £1,849 billion from 2027/28 -2031/32.

Additionally, there are a range of discounts available to 16 to 24-year-olds to help with the cost of rail travel - in 2019 we introduced the 16-17 Saver, meaning that a 50% discount is available to children throughout their period of compulsory education and training. For those aged 16-25, the 16-25 Railcard offers a third off most rail travel.

In England, the majority of bus services outside London operate on a commercial basis, and decisions about offering reduced or discounted fares for commercial bus services are predominantly for operators to take. Many bus operators currently offer discounted travel cards for younger people. Our most recent set of statistics shows that at least one commercial operator in 71 out of 84 travel concession authority areas in England, outside London, offered some form of discounted travel for young people.