School bus charge angers public

Sat, 21 Jun 2014

Children could be forced to pay 50p to get the school bus under new money saving proposals.

As part of plans to find £5 million of savings the Department of Infrastructure says it may need to charge for services that were previously free.

The buses are currently subsidised to the tune of £5.5 million - with the cost of operating 32 daily services standing at £1.25 million a year.

Free school bus travel was introduced in 2000 - the department says in reality certain services are not sustainable as things stand.

It's a decision that's angered our listeners - Bryony calls it disgusting, Jill says she doesn't mind paying but £1 a day is a 'rip off' and Amy says if this goes through she'd rather drop them off in the car instead.

However Patrick says children get free education and people shouldn't view their children as a way of getting financial benefits. He says he has two and welcomes the idea.