Free travel for Children - August

As  part of the UK Government’s Great British Summer Savings Scheme, children aged 5–15 can travel for FREE  across England throughout August.  

FREE travel is available on most bus services across England, including those operated by CT4N between Saturday 1st August and Monday 31st August for children aged 5 to 15 years, however please check respective bus operator websites for further details.

Who can travel for free?

• All children between the ages of 5 to 15 inclusive.

• Children under the age of 11 must be accompanied by a fare paying adult. This is for safeguarding matters and something which other operators in the East Midlands are also adopting. 

• Children aged 11 years and above can travel for free unaccompanied.

• Children under the age of 5 travel for free at all times when accompanied by a fare paying adult throughout the year.

Keeping safe before, during and after the journey

This may be the first time that your child will be using the bus unaccompanied, therefore to ensure everyone travels safely, please ensure the following:

• Plan ahead - Make sure you know where your child is travelling to, with whom and if possible ensure that they have a mobile phone to make contact in case there is an emergency. Don't forget to check timetables and times of travel.

• Arriving at the bus stop - Please ensure that your child arrives at the bus in good time and that they are standing at the correct direction of travel. At most bus stops there will be an electronic display which will display all of the journeys in real time - Don't forget that you can also track the bus via the CT4N website.

• Boarding the bus - Please ensure that your child clearly signals to the driver that they intend to catch the bus. When the doors open, please ask the driver for a 'free child ticket' which is a requirement of the travel scheme. Once the ticket has been issued, take a seat and remain seated until you arrive at your destination.

• During the journey - Should your child have any questions, feel unsafe or worried, then please speak to the driver. Our driver will assist where they can and if necessary may contact our Operations Team for further advice.

• Getting off the bus - Please ensure that your child rings the bell on the bus before their intended destination, ensure they have all their personal belongings with them before leaving the bus and also to say thank you to the driver. Finally, ensure that they message you to say that they have arrived safely.

Important Information

If your child appears to be over the age of 15, they may be asked for proof of identity. This is to ensure that the free travel scheme is not being abused. 

Should the driver deem your child to be over the age of 15, then your child will be asked to pay for their fare. In this situation, we ask that your child pays for their fare, retains the ticket issued and brings home with them the ticket they have been issued.

The ticket that has been issued, alongside proof of your child's age needs to be emailed to enquiries@ct4n.co.uk so that we can arrange the refund of your child's ticket.

As you can appreciate, it is very difficult for our drivers to differentiate the age of a child who is 15 and one who may look older, therefore we will not be investigating or disciplining any driver in the matters outlined above.

Bicycles, E-Bikes and Scooters

These are not permitted for travel on any of our services, therefore please ensure that your child is aware of this matter. 

Mobile Devices & Music

Please remember that there will be other customers travelling on the bus, therefore please remember to keep any conversations or playing of music to a minimum so as to ensure a smooth journey and not to provide distraction to our drivers. Thank you.