HAPPY New Year! I hope you are having a restful festive period.
Over the school holidays, Kids Go Free is back on the West’s buses.
This means under-16s can travel for nothing once again throughout Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire between December 20 and January 4.
No registration or bus pass is required – just hop on board.
This follows on from the success of our scheme over the summer, in partnership with local councils and bus operators.
More than 910,000 free journeys were taken by kids across our region, putting almost £1 million back into the pockets of families and opening up our region for more young people.
The summer scheme saw 32% more children travel by bus than did in summer 2024.
We saw more footfall at local visitor attractions and retail centres, and got new people onto our brand-new green buses, inspiring the passengers of the future.
Almost half of the people in our sample survey said Kids Go Free had helped them visit new places they had not been to before, which would have otherwise been too costly.
December brought more good news on transport in the West. We secured over £40 million for buses as we plan longer-term on how to invest in things like Kids Go Free in the future. This was another real vote of confidence in the West Country, as we continue working together on a bus network that works.
Since May, we’ve secured the best part of £1 billion for transport in our region – better buses, more trains, and mass transit plans – soon we will spell out our vision for how to get the West moving.
The end of the year also saw the West start to catch up with other regions.
Active Travel England now rates the West of England alongside Greater Manchester and the West Midlands for better walking, wheeling, and cycling routes. We all know that active travel is good for our health and our planet, so it makes sense to make sustainable choices easier for people.
Our upgraded rating comes with £12 million for us to add to the green cycle lanes in South Gloucestershire, safe crossings like the one opened by Ralph Allen School in Bath in October and work progressing to improve Victoria Street in Bristol, linking town to Temple Meads.
December also saw the publication of the child poverty action plan for the region I mentioned in last month’s column, after a welcome national strategy and November’s Budget decision to scrap the two-child benefit cap.
The majority of children affected are in working households, and our area is expected to be more than £20 million better off as a result.
Lifting kids out of poverty is a key part of our new Growth Strategy, which aims to secure the investment needed to create 72,000 new jobs in the region.
Together, we’ve turned the page and are writing a new chapter for the West of England.
I’m optimistic for what 2026 can bring, and determined to make a difference local people can see and feel, including on child poverty, economic investment, and transport.