Parents' anger as young people's bus fares double

Ruth Inkley says she will now have to pay more than £80 a month to send her two daughters to school by bus

Parents have spoken of their anger after the cost of sending their children to school by bus doubled.

The increase came after First Bus York scrapped its monthly ticket option for 11-16 year olds, meaning parents now have to buy a more expensive weekly ticket.

One mum, Christina Chinnian, said the additional cost was “making bus travel unaffordable for many at a time when people are really feeling the pinch in their pockets".

A spokesperson for First Bus said that following feedback a further review of the child monthly ticket "is being considered".

First Bus York said it was considering a review of its decision to axe the ticket

Ruth Inkley, from Woodthorpe, in York, said the cost of a monthly ticket had been £20 when her eldest daughter, Emily, now 14, started at All Saints secondary school.

Mrs Inkley, who lives about two miles from the school, said: “We realised it wasn’t our catchment school and were totally prepared to pay for her to travel there on the bus into the centre of York.”

She described the cost at the time as “really good value for money", but it had then increased to about £30 a month a year ago.

Since First Bus scrapped the monthly ticket for 11-16 year olds earlier this year, she said she had been forced to pay for either a weekly ticket at £10.50 or paying £1 for each individual journey.

“If you add that up over a month, you’re looking at at least £40 a month, which is a huge increase in a relatively short space of time," she said.

She said now her other daughter, Megan, had started at the same school, she was paying £80 a month.

Mrs Inkley said: “Other things will take a hit. It feels unfair. The costs should be reasonable.”

Christina Chinnian is now considering driving her two sons to school

Christina Chinnian’s two sons also attend All Saints School.

She said she was also prepared to pay the original cost, but found the hike in price a real struggle.

She said she worried about her children having to negotiate city centre traffic on a bike and was considering driving the children to school, which she was reluctant to do.

A spokesperson for First Bus in York said: “The child monthly [ticket] was a legacy product that had remained unchanged on our systems since 2019 until an increase last year.

It was removed from the ticket range in line with our practice in other regions we operate.

“Following feedback received, a further review of the child monthly ticket is being considered.”

Kate Ravilious, executive member for transport at City of York Council, said the council had no power to control the bus ticket prices and that the authority "do not welcome the recent change".

"We want to see young people pick up the bus travel habit young and stick with it, not put them off by making bus travel prohibitively expensive," she said.

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