The Isle of Wight’s ruling administration has confirmed Island bus fares will go up to £3 following a question at Wednesday evening’s Full Council meeting.
The announcement that there would be no subsidies came following a written question from the Isle of Wight Youth Council.
They asked whether a “discounted” pass could be introduced for students and apprentices in response to the “considerable” new cost of bus travel.
The Isle of Wight Council’s advisory body for youth issues is elected by young people between the ages of 11 and 21 from across the Island.
One of its two representatives present at Wednesday’s meeting posed the question:
“Given that bus fares have risen to £3, the financial impact on the families of students and students themselves will be worsened by this.
“A round trip from home to school now can cost as much as £12, in a week that’s £60 and in a month that’s £240.
“For a young person this is a considerable amount of money, so: will the council consider introducing a discounted or subsidised bus pass for students and apprentices in order to relieve the financial burden?”
Cabinet member for children’s services, education and corporate functions Cllr Jonathan Bacon replied:
“It is correct that national bus fares have been capped at £3 from January 2025 to December 2025.
“The current £2 cap will run out on December 31 this year.
"At this time there is no internal or external funding available for the Isle of Wight Council to utilise for subsidising local bus fares following the government’s decision to amend the current fare cap.
“I’m sure it is appreciated that the Isle of Wight, like many other local authority areas, is continuing to face budgetary pressures and meeting these through further planned savings over the coming years.
“However, following the recent announcement from government over the weekend regarding funding for local bus services which specifically referenced the Isle of Wight, the council is set to receive additional funding from government of around £1.8 million which can be spent on capital and revenue projects.
“Working with the bus provider, Southern Vectis, and through the bus services improvement plan arrangement which is already in place, we will be looking to improve the overall bus services Island-wide with potential enhancements to include more service routes, increased frequency along some routes, real-time information provision and consideration of further subsidies where they may be best utilised.”
Cllr Bacon added the council will work on the improvement plan in the next weeks and months.
A paper will be presented to the cabinet “around January next year” for it to consider putting improvements into practice.
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