The NYA Blog
Don’t miss the bus
08 September 2009
Speak to any youth council or group of young people and it won’t be long before the vexed issue of transport comes up – usually along the lines that it’s too expensive, there’s not enough of it and it goes to the wrong places at the wrong times. Unhelpful, and even hostile, adults feature in the list too. Much of this criticism may be harsh but there’s no escaping the perception among the young that public transport does not work as well as it might for our young people.
So it’s interesting that, of all the good and worthy causes the Coalition for Young People could choose to relaunch their campaign on behalf of young people with at the recent round of party political conferences (see story right), they’ve opted for transport. The organisations in the coalition are calling on all political parties to acknowledge the necessity for children and young people to have safe, affordable and reliable access to public transport, as outlined in article two of the Manifesto. And you can’t argue with that.
But, equally, let’s not lose sight of some of the successful schemes already in place, as outlined in the recent guidance on supporting access to positive activities produced by the National Youth Agency for the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department of Transport. Among the transport initiatives highlighted are concessions and subsidy schemes, scooter and moped loan projects, use of taxis, minibus provision and community transport initiatives.
One of them could be just the ticket for you and your group.
The guidance, and an earlier NYA document on innovative solutions for young people’s bus travel, are both available for free download from the NYA website. They could be just what you need to help start the ball rolling on transport solutions in your area.
I appreciate these may be difficult times for local authorities, feeling the pinch like the rest of us. But they can lead this process by undertaking a transport audit with young people to identify particular problems from which solutions can be designed. An added benefit of this of course is that it ticks the participation box as well as the transport box.
Andy Hopkinson is with the Media Services team at
The NYA. He can be contacted at andyh@nya.org.uk