At the beginning of May Finnian Rees set out this 637607 Petition which is entitled Fund half price bus and trains fares for 16 and 17 year olds. So far in the last 4 months tragically Finnian has only managed to achieve 80 extra signatures so far. In order for this to be responded by the Government it needs at least another 9,919 signatures. It is very interesting that apart from a few locations outside of Sussex that 51 of the 82 signatures are from Sussex and indeed the most significant area is Bexhill and Battle so one can assume that this is where Finnian is based. The other two significant areas are Hastings and Rye and Wealden. It would be fantastic if many more people could consider signing this petition. The text from Finnian in her Facebook is

Hi everyone, I’ve started a government petition to allow 16/17 year olds acces to child tickets as I think people this age shouldn’t be expected to pay full price for tickets, having a far lower minimum wage and many not being able to afford driving. If you could sign it and or share it that would be greatly appreciated, it only takes a minute.

The content of the Petition is as follows:

Fund half price bus and trains fares for 16 and 17 year olds

Currently on most bus and rail services, under 16s pay a cheaper fare than those ages 16 and above. This allows young people to afford public transport more easily, but these reduced fares do not normally cover those aged 16 to 17.

16 and 17 year olds qualify for a much lower minimum wage than those ages 18 and up, but are expected to pay full fares for travel despite this. Allowing young people within this age range to access cheaper public transport could increase the use of public transport overall, and decrease reliance on parents or friends for lifts.

Sign this petition