Government Announces free child bus travel for August

On Thursday 21 May the Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that for the month of August, to assist with the Cost of Living, children aged 5 to 15 will be offered free bus travel in England on participating operators.

Bus companies will be reimbursed but the details have not yet been worked out. This is how the National Bus Fare Cap operators of which FLM is one of the few community transport operators to take part.

As our new Saturday services are designed to offer leisure opportunities for young people this scheme does dovetail with that idea. In 2022 FLM offered Free Mondays in August to try and boost passenger numbers on the 411 and 418. A pilot in the West of England has probably proved more influential for the government than ours to be honest, but at least FLM beat them to it.