More than 5,000 young people have signed up to and are benefiting from mytravelpass, a Welsh Government funded scheme offering discounted bus travel to 16-18 year olds in Wales, since its launch six months ago.

The milestone number was reached earlier this week and to mark the occasion, Wales’ Economy, Science and Transport Minister, Edwina Hart, personally presented the 5,000^th pass to Dulcie Jones from Penrhyndeudraeth during a visit to North Wales yesterday [10 March].

Dulcie, 17, is currently a student at Coleg Llandrillo, Dolgellau, where she is studying A-Levels in Psychology, English and Law. She catches the bus on a daily basis to get to college and said the pass “will be extremely beneficial”.

Funded by the Welsh Government, developed in partnership with the bus industry and local authorities, and operated by the company that delivers Traveline Cymru, mytravelpass aims to help young people aged between 16 and 18 to travel more easily and cheaply.

The scheme is free to sign up to and eligible pass holders receive a third off the price of an adult fare on all local buses and TrawsCymru journeys throughout Wales.

After presenting Dulcie with her card, Mrs Hart said: “It is vital that our young people are able to more easily access jobs and training opportunities in Wales and I am pleased that young people are already benefitting from this scheme.

“We recognise that travelling costs can sometimes be a barrier and mytravelpass aims to change that by making it easier and cheaper for 16-18 year olds to travel around Wales by bus. It underlines our commitment to supporting our young people through education and training and into work.”

Dulcie Jones added: “The pass was easy to sign up to and I think it’s a great idea to provide young people, especially those who are not yet in full time employment but working towards it, the chance to travel more cheaply. After hearing about the pass, I thought ‘why not’ because I knew it would be extremely beneficial.” 

16-18 year olds can apply for a mytravelpass via the website: Gov.wales/mytravelpass

ENDS