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Original poster

Did you know this about the free bus travel?

196 replies

Rae36 · 02/01/2022 21:53

Everyone aged between 5 and 21 needs to apply for a new Young Scot entitlement card (NEC) to qualify for free travel. Existing ones won't work.

But you can't apply yet, you have to wait for Transport Scotland to tell you how to do it.

So that's 900,000 people needing issued with a new card before 31st January so they can get the bus for free. Oh but you can't apply in plenty of time, right now you can't apply at all.

young.scot/the-young-scot-card

I should have put this on the railing thread because I'm majorly ranty about it, but I thought more people might spot it this way.

OP posts:
Original poster
Rae36 · 03/01/2022 10:39

here I was wondering what I'd do with my day

It's taken me ages to just get all the bits of id together. We can only find a short birth certificate for one of our kids and the register office to order a long one doesn't open till the 5th. How can it be this difficult if they already have a Young Scot card?

OP posts:
rookiemere · 03/01/2022 10:45

Done - after this and a short run I feel I can sit on the sofa with impunity for the rest of the day .
@Rae36 I didn't bother waiting until DS woke up to see if he still had his Young Scot card and luckily I had all the relevant paperwork to hand.
Took a mere 25 minutes ( DS will hate me I used a passport photo from a year ago as he's still not up).

User48751490 · 03/01/2022 13:27

None of my DC have Young Scot cards so will just wait to hear from the council about how to apply. My eldest usually walks to school but still handy if he wanted to get the bus anywhere.

I agree though, bit short notice rolling it out😬

mapleleavesreturn · 03/01/2022 15:30

So we are still awaiting details on how to get the right young scot NEC card from this:

young.scot/the-young-scot-card

mapleleavesreturn · 03/01/2022 15:32

Ah sorry see the get your etc should work. Confusing!

Absofruitly · 03/01/2022 15:35

Has anyone managed to apply for their child without either a passport or Young Scot card?

These seem to be the only forms of ID acceptable for the child but my son has neither. We've never been abroad with the kids so never had a need for a passport, and his school was on lockdown at the usual 'apply for Young Scot card' time so we've never had one of those either.

I tried to apply for a Young Scot card just now but that apparently needs a passport as ID for the child too. Am I going to have to pay fifty quid for a passport in order to get the free bus travel?

User48751490 · 03/01/2022 15:40

Does this apply to school children who get the school bus through a private coach/bus company? Or is the free pass valid only on commercial buses?

User48751490 · 03/01/2022 15:41

@Absofruitly

Has anyone managed to apply for their child without either a passport or Young Scot card?

These seem to be the only forms of ID acceptable for the child but my son has neither. We've never been abroad with the kids so never had a need for a passport, and his school was on lockdown at the usual 'apply for Young Scot card' time so we've never had one of those either.

I tried to apply for a Young Scot card just now but that apparently needs a passport as ID for the child too. Am I going to have to pay fifty quid for a passport in order to get the free bus travel?

Surely a birth certificate would suffice??
Absofruitly · 03/01/2022 15:47

That's what I thought, but a birth certificate isn't given as an option at getyournec.scot/nec/. I went through the application process, uploaded my passport ID and proof of address ID and then the next option was to upload the child's ID and the only two options were passport or Young Scot card. No sign of birth certificate as an option.

That's why I'd like to know if anyone on here has managed to successfully apply without their child having a passport or Youg Scot card, and if so, how they did so.

ResilienceWanker · 03/01/2022 17:18

Thanks so much for starting this thread rae ! I had no idea this was going to be the system. I'd assumed it would just operate on trust for obvious children (like the under 5 travel does at the moment) and older teens would have their youngscot card they could show drivers to prove eligibility. Didn't know how they got that - I assume it just showed up at some point in the post like your NI did back in the day, or maybe everyone was handed one at school ... Shows how much I know about the mysteries of Scottish identification cards Grin

DS is 10 - so has never had a youngscot card (can't anyway as it seems to be 12 you can apply) and I've never been aware of the NEC for anyone not in receipt of benefits etc. I now want to know if he's been missing out on all sorts of freebies?!

Anyway, I've just applied for one for him - and had the same frustrations as with the vaccine passport app getting it to recognise my ID/ face and so on. Sounds like I'll have to do it again in 6 months when he turns 11 to get one with a photo - but hopefully it'll be easier then. She says, in total denial of everything she has ever done involving technology and the Scottish Government

I was able to just use his birth certificate absofruitly - but you're right - that is allowed as a proof of child ID for 5-10 years old, but not for older children. Goodness knows why!

Absofruitly · 03/01/2022 17:52

Yes, @ResilienceWanker, I was able to apply for the card no bother for my younger son, as he is under 10 and so the birth certificate proof of ID worked fine. I don't know why that isn't an option for 11+ children. Very frustrating.

User48751490 · 03/01/2022 17:52

Pretty pointless if children can only use it on commercial buses and not for school transport.

Iwantthesummersun · 03/01/2022 18:10

I’m not sure why they need to use it on school buses? My DD has a bus pass for the school bus which is a private coach. It’s issued by our council. On the few occasions it hasn’t turned up she has had to pay for the commercial bus to get to school as the school pass isn’t accepted. From the end of the month she’d be able to use her Young Scot card. The school coaches are full to capacity and her pass says which one she can use. I’d not be impressed if it could be used by anyone and she then wasn’t able to get home.

LoopyGremlin · 03/01/2022 18:17

It’s a faff to apply I have to say. Wasn’t as bad for the younger one as no photo required but took a while for the older one.

MarshmallowFondant · 03/01/2022 18:23

@OatcakeCravings

Thanks I had no idea I had to apply for a new card until reading this.
Neither did I. And I have three kids who will all be eligible for this scheme. If we can manage to get them a card. Hmm

Another Scot Gov fuck up.

WeAllHaveWings · 03/01/2022 18:36

Knew the scheme was coming, heard about it on tv, online newspapers, facebook, twitter etc so think it has been publicised well enough to prompt those interested to go and find out more. I did a quick Google last year and it said apply in January for a new young scot/identify card but didnt realise it was open yet so thanks for the heads up.

ds(17) has just applied for himself using his young scot card for proof of id and driving licence as proof of address. There was also an option to use birth certificate (he doesn't have a passport). Took 20 mins.

User48751490 · 03/01/2022 18:42

@Iwantthesummersun

I’m not sure why they need to use it on school buses? My DD has a bus pass for the school bus which is a private coach. It’s issued by our council. On the few occasions it hasn’t turned up she has had to pay for the commercial bus to get to school as the school pass isn’t accepted. From the end of the month she’d be able to use her Young Scot card. The school coaches are full to capacity and her pass says which one she can use. I’d not be impressed if it could be used by anyone and she then wasn’t able to get home.
My son has to pay to use school bus though, he isn't entitled to a pass. He is at his catchment school, but it's a fair treck.
ResilienceWanker · 03/01/2022 19:14

@User48751490

Pretty pointless if children can only use it on commercial buses and not for school transport.
That's true user . It sounds like the aim is to get people to use the bus rather than private car. If people are using the bus anyway (even if they are "forced" to because that is the way they get to school) making it free wouldn't change the overall usage. So presumably the SG doesn't want to pay to make things easier/ cheaper for those families because it wouldn't affect the overall number of bus journeys made... Very unfair, I agree as anyone travelling to school on a "normal" bus would benefit. So once again people in urban/ city areas with good public transport benefit, whereas people living more rurally who effectively have to "buy" a transport service from a private provider (or the council does) lose out... And I suppose there's nothing in it for the provider to become "public" in that case, as they wouldn't definitely make any more money - and would likely lose some as the gov won't pay the full fare (according to the legislation they pay 40-something % of a full fare for under 16s - rather than half price - and 80-something % for older ones).

There could be some unintended consequences though, I suppose. DH works at a uni, and up til now they have run a free (? or very heavily subsidised?) bus for staff and students to get between campuses. They are going to stop running that on the grounds that the (undergrad) students will be able to use the (admittedly more frequent) service buses for free instead. So there will be more people on those buses (not sure how great that is for covid purposes, but hey...) - but the staff and postgrad or mature undergrad students won't get the "perk" they used to. Which isn't the end of the world - but is a bit annoying.

2319inprogress · 03/01/2022 19:46

I also have kids with no passport or YS card Confused

rookiemere · 03/01/2022 19:51

Well DS15 is quite excited by the thought of free bus travel, despite its drawbacks.

WeAllHaveWings · 03/01/2022 20:00

@2319inprogress

I also have kids with no passport or YS card Confused
If they are under 16 would their birth certificate with parents proof of address surely work?

Over 16 - birth certificate, then provisional license or NI letter for proof of address?

Iwantthesummersun · 03/01/2022 20:03

If the private buses here were available to children who live closer than the walking limit then the buses would be massively over capacity. They’re full by the time they leave our village so wouldn’t be able to pick up kids who live closer.

WeAllHaveWings · 03/01/2022 20:24

We pay for our school bus in ayrshire because we are within the 3 mile limit. They are subsidised, but as they are private hire and provided by the LA at their discretion, and free to pupils with FSM, I wouldn't never have expected them to be included in this scheme.

Some of my work colleagues in Glasgow have kids that take public buses to their catchment school as soon as they start secondary , I'm happily to continue to pay for the convienence and safety of our subsidised school bus as the alternative would be a much earlier free public bus (with 1 change) or a walk.

User48751490 · 03/01/2022 21:08

DS lives 1.9miles from his school, but you have to live at least 2 miles away before being entitled to a pass. He walks most days but would be ideal to have the pass. As others say though, looks like it's just not aimed at school transport kids. Such a shame. Oh well.

MrsAmaretto · 03/01/2022 22:57

Totally wasn’t aware that they needed a card for this free bus scheme - thanks for sharing!

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