Bus operators across England are restricting discounted fares for schoolchildren to smartphone-based apps, creating financial penalties for families who choose not to provide mobile devices to their children.
Derbyshire county council’s b_line card program, which caps fares at £1.50 for passengers aged 18 and under on trentbarton buses, requires users to register through a smartphone application to access the discount. One parent reported her 11-year-old daughter would pay an extra £546 annually without smartphone access. The family made a deliberate choice to provide only a traditional phone when the child began secondary school this month. Trentbarton acknowledged that its ticketing machines cannot read the council-issued cards and stated it is developing a physical card alternative, though discounts remain limited in the interim.
Campaign groups and child welfare advocates contend that digital-only fare structures contradict government efforts to minimize smartphone use among students. More than 200,000 parents have pledged through the Smartphone Free Childhood campaign to delay providing phones until at least age 14. Critics argue that making essential services dependent on smartphone ownership effectively penalizes lower-income families and undermines school policies restricting device use. Additional operators including Stagecoach and Compass implement similar app-dependent discount schemes.
The Department for Education noted that a law banning mobile phones in English schools, which took effect in June, does not extend to travel to and from school, classifying app-based fare policies as matters for individual operators. Government officials have indicated they view this as a commercial decision rather than an education policy issue. Advocates maintain that government and bus companies have a responsibility to ensure equitable access to discounts regardless of smartphone ownership.
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