Transport must be affordable for all young people

Friday 2 October 2009

As members of the Coalition for Young People, NCB and the National Youth Agency (NYA) welcome the re-launch of the Coalition's Manifesto for Young People at the party conferences, and calls on all political parties to acknowledge the necessity for children and young people to have safe, affordable and reliable access to public transport, as outlined in article two of the Manifesto.

Affordable and reliable transport is especially crucial now that unprecedented numbers of young people are not in employment, education or training, and when new opportunities are so few in the context of the recession. Young people must now travel further a field in search of work or training. The costs of regular travel can be considerable to a young person without an income. If government plans to have every person aged 16 to 18 in employment, education or training by 2012 proceed, this commitment must be matched by the introduction of realistic public transport fares so that unaffordable transport is no longer a barrier to the completion of education, or entry of young people into the workforce.

Barbara Hearn, Deputy Chief Executive of NCB, said, 'The costs of travel for young people, particularly those without a low income, can be truly prohibitive to the fulfilment of basic needs, such as completing training, finding a job, engaging in positive activities or simply socialising. MPs must realise that the typical cost to a young person of a round trip to college or a job centre can be the equivalent of an MP spending up to £60 per day of their income to travel only a short route to work. We fully support any efforts to create training or work opportunities for all young people but transport costs must reflect young people's lower earning capabilities'.

NYA Chief Executive Fiona Blacke, said: "There's no point in running positive activities if the young people they are designed for can't get to them. When it comes to transport, barriers such as cost, availability, accessibility and safety can all hold young people back, while rurality, lack of information, disability and adult attitudes towards the young can all compound the problem."