Northern Ireland set to examine free school transport proposals

Date: 5/2/2013

Northern Ireland's Education Minister John O'Dowd has agreed to assess the potential for providing all pupils with free school transport.

As the BBC reports, the minister will examine the feasibility of the initiative after calls from East Belfast MLA Judith Cochrane, who highlighted the benefits such a scheme could have for the health and social development of school children.

But the proposals have received a mixed response, with Mr O'Dowd quoted as saying that the cost of free transport would be "astronomical," while Sinn Fein's Chris Hazzard revealed he isn't convinced that such a scheme is "the way forward."

Yet with Education Committee Chairman Mervyn Storey claiming that the school transport system needs to be reviewed, it seems that the will exists to initiate change to some degree.

Indeed, the SDLP's John Dallat claimed that the existing system is "out of date," indicating that he would welcome any moves to modernise the service, although there is no definitive agreement as to just how extensive any modification should be.

According to Mr O'Dowd, a total of £74 million has already been spent funding school transport for 2012/2013, and this could rise to £200 million per year if free transport was offered to all pupils. He also claimed there would be a need to find an additional £500 million to cover capital investment costs.

Under the existing system, free transport is available to certain pupils depending on the distance that they live from their school; primary school children whose home is two miles away or more are entitled to free travel, while secondary school kids who live three miles away or more also have access to the benefit.

With the new proposals looking to extend this to all pupils irrespective of their location, a substantial overhaul would be needed in order to ensure the transport system could cope with the increased capacity.

Posted by Sarah Bailey

Transport Research News and Vehicle Safety News