Jeremy Corbyn says that the future Labour government will fund free bus travel to under – 25s in England.
The pledge comes as a source of optimism for young people everywhere, since the cost of bus travel has increased sharply over the last few years.
According to Labour, funding for free bus travel will save 13 million young people an average of £1000 a year.
In Birmingham specifically, approximately 322,000 people aged five to 24 would be eligible for free bus travel, with under-fives already travelling free.
It is hoped that the policy will encourage young people to use public transport instead of driving, thus reducing road congestion and pollution.
Labours research predicts that the initiative will save approximately £267 million of taxpayer’s money per year across the country.
The £1.4 billion needed for the policy is being sourced from Vehicle Excise Duty revenue, which is currently in the works for building new roads.
Jeremy Corbyn will talk about his plans in detail today as he visits a sixth form in Dudley.
In his speech, he declared that “young people deserve a break” from Conservative austerity and “giving them free bus travel will make a huge difference to their lives.”
“Young people tend to be in lower paid, more insecure work and spend a higher proportion of their income on travel,”
“Labour wants to help young people make the most out of life by investing in them, which is why today we are pledging the next Labour government will provide the funds to cover free bus travel for under-25s, to support them to travel to work, to study and to visit friends.”
The scheme is said to encourage the ownership of bus companies away from private ownership and back into the municipal ownership of local authorities.
“For too long, private bus companies have run our services for profit, not people,” Shadow Transport Secretary Andy McDonald is expected to say speaking alongside Jeremy Corbyn today.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said he was “delighted” about the announcement.
“Investing to provide free bus travel will greatly help young people access opportunities at this critical stage in their working and educational lives,” he said.
Conservative Transport Minister Nusrat Ghani staunchly considers Labours pledge as “yet another empty promise.”
He said that: “Last election Labour promised to pay off student debt if elected and then admitted it would actually cost too much to do. Now they’re bribing young people again with yet another empty promise.”
Conservatives claim that their own approach of providing railcards to 26 – 30-year-olds is more “balanced.” However, they were criticised after only 10,000 railcards were released last month in a government trail, leaving large numbers of those entitled without any help with travel costs.
