£1 BUS FARES: Nine million journeys in, the £1 ticket for under-22s is staying until 2027

Young people travelling to school, college or work on a participating bus will keep paying £1 a journey for another year and a half.

The Welsh Government has extended its £1 fare scheme for 5 to 21-year-olds to March 2027, and says the timing is pegged to the start of the new school and college term.

The scheme offers a £1 single or a £3 day ticket, with the day ticket covering unlimited travel on participating services.

Sixteen to 21-year-olds need a mytravelpass and must show it to the driver when boarding or buying, the government says. When the scheme was widened to 5 to 15-year-olds in November, it said younger children did not need one.

Journeys have to start or end in Wales. On cross-border routes the government says the ticket is valid as far as the first stop in England, or to the end of the line on some services.

More than nine million journeys have been made since the scheme began, according to the Welsh Government, which says over 38,000 mytravelpass cards have gone to 16 to 21-year-olds.

What it buys on a week of college runs

On the advertised prices, five days of return journeys bought as singles come to £10. A week of £3 day tickets, which cover unlimited travel rather than two journeys, comes to £15.

First Cymru, which runs services across Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Carmarthenshire, said it was leaving young persons’ fares alone when it raised its prices in March, holding them at £1 a single, £2 a return and £3 a day.

What that saves against a standard fare depends on the journey. The operator’s adult prices vary by distance under its tap-on tap-off system, with its published day ticket capped at £7.30.

The adult fare argument is running alongside it. Swansea West MP Torsten Bell is petitioning for a £2 adult cap to match the one arriving in England in January, saying a Swansea commuter could save up to £572 a year. The Welsh Government has said Wales is already leading the way on affordable public transport.

What happens after March 2027

The extension runs out in March 2027, and the change that will hand decisions on routes, timetables and fares to Transport for Wales is now expected after that.

When the bus law was signed in February, the Welsh Government said Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire would be the first region to move to franchising in 2027. Papers before regional transport councillors last month put the first franchised services at April or May 2028.

That leaves a gap of about a year between the two dates. Friday’s announcement does not say what happens to young people’s fares in the meantime.

A Lib Dem budget deal, extended by Plaid

The scheme began under the previous government. It came out of a £100m budget agreement between Welsh Labour and the Welsh Liberal Democrats, with £15m for the original pilot and a further £7m to bring in younger children, negotiated by Lib Dem leader Jane Dodds.

It launched in September 2025 for 16 to 21-year-olds and was widened to 5 to 15-year-olds that November. The Plaid Cymru government elected in May has now extended it for all eligible ages.

Deputy Minister for Transport Mark Hooper said the scheme was making a real difference to young people’s daily lives, allowing affordable journeys for work, education and leisure.

“Reaching over nine million journeys demonstrates the scale of its impact,” he said. “Extending the scheme to March 2027 will allow more young people to benefit from affordable travel.”

Applications for a mytravelpass are free, through traws.cymru.