Most bus compaines have been smart enough to allow kid fares before 9am, but some do not. Thus kids traveling to school have to pay FULL adult fare.

Unfortunately, for one company the parents have started to kick up a real stink about this issues

http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/d ... ull_fare_/

And here is some of the more Commets made about the piece, now really the public really can moan!

Hmm, its pretty much taken as read that children get discounts on transport until they're 16, and whereas the last quote is a good arguement, it isn't really fair when you consider these are kids, and their fares are paid for by their parents, who may be struggling anyways!

Its only gonna force more parents to let their kids play truent, or if at the other end of the scale, get more cars onto the road.

You have to give kids discounted fares to get their loyalty so they become comfortable with the bus at an early age and don't turn against using public transport when they're older. It's like the situation with car hire, over 21/25 only until Hertz recently started renting to over 19s and giving them a discount- guess who I'll probably be renting with for the forseeable future?

Seems to have taken a long time for parents to realise this. At a rough guess, every bus company I`ve worked for, including Wilts & Dorset, have charged full fare to kids, before 9:00. It was originally done to stop overcrowding during the a.m. rush hour, so adults could get to work. It never bothered me charging secondary kids full fare, but it was a bit out of order to charge little kids above 5, full fare. Most companies did a kind of discount fare pass, with Wilts, it being a child rate 12 journey ticket. As for kids getting used to bus travel, well I always thought it better if kids in large groups going to and from school, should be transported in cattle trucks.

i thought it was 16 for full adult fares on the trains . The fares system on the railways is too complicated .

If you take into consideration the amount of damage kids do to buses they should be paying £10 a trip , maybe companies could introduce an scheme for xbox360 and ps3 games to be exchanged for a weekly travel pass .

Shouldve just told their mams (sorry, mums ), as its illegal to ask a minor their address... be a nice counter claim against a fine that!!

Sounds like a tosser regardless.

Is it still the law that a driver's not allowed to refuse a under 16 travel on the bus, even if they dont have there fares?

I think it's illegal to refuse a kid going to school, but not just in general. Don't hold me to that, it's just that clause sticks in my mind from my training for some reason.

Its strict company policy at our place, however, not to refuse an Under 16 travel, in case something happened to them, bad press, etc.

kids in london travel for free
http://www.london.gov.uk/young-london/k ... /buses.jsp

i've got a 17 year old and a 15 year old at school who pay different fares for the same journey going to and from school.
this is just nonsense.
if the scottish government can let pishy old bastards travel for free for most of the day, why not let the kids travel free before 9 and between 3 and 5 ?