London Citizens wins commitment from TfL to improve access to travel discounts by 2025
London Citizens wins commitment from TfL to improve access to travel discounts by 2025
London Citizens has won a commitment from Transport for London (TfL) to provide asylum seekers with better access to travel concessions, such as those for under 18s and over 60s, by the end of 2025.
Bus fares present a huge challenge for people seeking asylum as it restricts their ability as Londoners to take their children to school, attend ESOL classes, or access healthcare. Many asylum seekers receive £8.86 a week for all essentials, with slight variation depending on circumstance. A single bus fare in London is currently £1.75.
Campaigners argue that civil society is under significant strain as a result. Schools are seeing parents struggle to pick up sick children, GPs have patients missing appointments, and churches and faith organisations are affected as congregants are unable to attend services.
In November 2024, a pilot scheme for free bus travel for asylum seekers was launched in Oxford after campaigning by Citizens UK. Scotland has recently re-committed to providing free bus travel for people seeking asylum by 2026.
The campaign for more accessible bus travel for asylum seekers began in June 2023 and is led by Citizens UK, along with a coalition of 25 civil society organisations including Sufra NW London, Finchley Progressive Synagogue and Hendon School.
This is an important step toward meeting the Mayor’s goal that ‘London is for Everyone’ and TfL’s goals of ensuring London has genuinely ‘public’ Transport.
On 25 April, 200 Citizens UK community leaders and asylum seekers from across the capital will gather at City Hall to celebrate this new commitment.
I am a single mother of two school aged children. One journey to school and back by bus costs £3.50. But we only received £8.86 a week, for everything from school uniforms to phone credit. How can we afford the bus?
All parents should be able to take their children to school. But, on my daughter's first day of school, I was too sick to walk. I begged the bus driver to let us on. But we were refused as I couldn't afford the fare. My daughter missed her first day of school. Imagine if you can't get your daughter to school?
For parents like me bus travel is essential so that we can support our children to get to school, so we can attend parents evenings, and so we can up pick our children up when they are sick.
Khadiga, a Citizens UK leader
As an Assistant Head teacher, I know how important it is for parents to support their children's education at school. Our parents seeking asylum are doing the best they can. But the cost of bus travel creates a significant challenge. Parents simply cannot afford important journeys to school including parents evenings, school performances, or picking their children up when they are sick. We believe every child should be supported at school by their parents/ guardians and we believe bus travel is essential to facilitate this.
Noelle Doona, Assistant Headteacher at Hendon School
By preventing asylum seekers from accessing affordable travel, every Londoner suffers. It creates a barrier for people seeking asylum who want to improve their English, give back to their communities through volunteering, and bring their children to school. In turn, this limits the opportunities of integration for people seeking asylum and their new communities.