Last month Deputy Rob Ward lodged proposals calling for school bus journeys to be free from this September, and for under-18s and those in full-time education to receive free bus travel by the earliest practical date.
He would also like a full plan to be produced by the end of 2020 to make buses free to everyone in the Island.
St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft submitted an amendment
to the Deputy’s plans, however, which says that they are ‘in part hasty’ and require much more research.
Meanwhile, Infrastructure Minster Kevin Lewis has also tabled an amendment which says that a large financial shortfall would be created by giving students free travel and that it would need to be covered by increasing fares for others or by reducing public bus services by 10%.
Mr Crowcroft’s amendment instead proposes investigating free bus travel for schoolchildren and under-18s, with a view to implementing a plan for young commuters in May 2020.
It also suggests carrying out research and identifying funding for safe routes for cycling and walking, as well as a provision for people with impaired mobility, by the end of this year.
The report accompanying his amendment says: ‘Getting more people on the buses will not cure the Island of its traffic-related ills any more than “electrification” will.
‘In common with other countries we are facing an obesity epidemic; where travelling to work or school is concerned we need to prioritise modes of transport which will get us fitter.
‘And one of the main reasons people walk and cycle less in Jersey than they do in many other countries is that it is considered by many neither safe nor convenient to do so.
‘It would be quite wrong to prioritise the spending of millions of pounds on making bus travel cheaper or free when the same expenditure on improvements to the walking and cycling routes between the homes of Islanders and their places of work or education would make them happier, healthier and more independent.’
Deputy Lewis’s amendment says that making all student travel free would create an immediate shortfall in funding of £650,000.
It adds that an estimated £700,000 would be required to maintain the existing service in 2020.
‘There is insufficient resource within the Infrastructure Minister’s remit to be able to reallocate budgets without severely impacting service delivery in other areas,’ the minister’s amendment says.
Its accompanying report suggests that an increase in all public bus fares of 18p would be required to address the financial shortfall, or services would need to be cut by 10%.
Deputy Ward’s proposition is due to be debated by the States next week.
