Surrey County Council has agreed further funding to reduce the cost of travel for under 20s, with many single bus journeys now costing as little as £1.
The Surrey LINK card was launched by the county council earlier this year entitling all young people aged 20 and under, to 50% of all bus adult bus fares across Surrey. This has now been extended to include tickets purchased under the Department for Transport (DfT) £2 bus fare cap scheme which has been extended to December 2024.
From 12 November 2023 operators participating in the DfT fare cap scheme will offer a £1 single fare on adult tickets when a LINK card is shown. Participating operators include: Compass, Diamond Bus, East Surrey Rural Transport Partnership, Falcon, First, Metrobus, Stagecoach, Thames Valley Bus, Waverley Hoppa and details of participating routes can be found of the DfT website.
Operators who do not participate in the DfT fare cap scheme will continue to offer 50% off the adult fare on single and return tickets.
Matt Furniss, Cabinet Member for Transport, Infrastructure and Growth at Surrey County Council said: “I’m delighted that we have been able to further invest in bus travel to support younger residents of Surrey with cheaper journeys, giving them the freedom to travel around the county. It’s a significant investment and one which we hope will be well received."
“We are encouraging more people to use Surrey’s buses and investing in making buses greener including £32.3m for more ultra-low and zero emission buses and £6.3m for more ultra-low and zero emission community transport minibuses. A further £9m is being invested in bus priority measures to ensure buses turn up on time, and £1.4m in improving information for passengers at bus stops.”
More information including how to apply for a LINK card is available here