Children get free bus and tram travel during summer

Children aged 5-15 will be able to travel by bus and tram free of charge in August.

The scheme is designed to help families afford activities and days out during the school holidays across South Yorkshire.

The bus discount has been funded by the government's Great British Summer Savings programme, while the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority has provided additional funding to cover Supertram journeys.

Mayor Oliver Coppard said: "We'll help families save money over the holidays now, while continuing our work to give every young person more freedom and access to opportunity, and every family a little more money in their pocket."

The campaign group, Better Buses for South Yorkshire, welcomed the move and said that anything that encourages bus travel and addressed the cost of living was welcomed.

Fran Postlethwaite from the group said: "It doesn't solve all the problems by any means. Children between the ages of five and 15, at the younger end of that, they're not going to be travelling on their own, they're going to be travelling with an adult whose fares are not made any cheaper.

"So although there is going to be some impact on the cost of living, it's still going to be prohibitive for the poorest of families I think."

There are other public transport deals available over the summer, including a £10 Supertram fare for adults.

Under 18s in Barnsley already receive free bus travel with a MiCard until August 2027.

Coppard added: "Free public transport has changed lives for young people and families in Barnsley, and I couldn't be prouder of that scheme."

But Postlethwaite from the Better Buses campaign group said more still needed to be done.

"These sorts of concessions are really important in encouraging people either out of cars or giving them the freedom to travel.

"We have a major problem with carbon emissions, we've got a problem with congestion on our roads. We need to encourage people to get back onto public transport in the way that they did historically in South Yorkshire back in the 1970s until the mid-80s.

"The buses were cheap and people used them."

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