(2) if he will estimate the cost of providing free public transport for all school children, broken down by mode of transport.
Analysis for the Department for Transport estimated the ‘marginal’ costs (in 2002-03 prices) of extending existing concessions offered by local authorities in their areas to free ‘bus’ travel, at all time and for all purposes, for five to 16-year-olds at around £365 million per year, and around a further £160 million per year for 17 and 18-year-olds. A total extra cost of approximately £525 million per annum. These estimates are for England only, are restricted to concessionary bus travel within the local authority in which the concessionaire is resident, and excludes any Barnett consequentials. The Department has no cost information on concessionary travel for people aged 18 to 21 years and on other forms of public transport for children and young people.
At the present time, the Department does not have an estimate of the cost of free public transport for children and young people across England. This is extremely difficult to estimate due to the uncertainties about: take-up, the extra concessionary travel generated, the switch from dedicated school transport, travel behaviour and the amount of additional capacity required. The existence of all these inter-related variables creates significant uncertainty in any estimate.