{"id":7516,"date":"2024-02-01T08:23:39","date_gmt":"2024-01-31T22:23:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railexpress.com.au\/?p=115213"},"modified":"2024-02-01T08:23:39","modified_gmt":"2024-01-31T22:23:39","slug":"free-public-transport-for-school-students-and-on-sundays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=7516","title":{"rendered":"Free public transport for school students and on Sundays"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Western Australian Government<\/a> has today announced its latest cost-of-living relief measure, with free public transport to be provided for school student travel and for the entire community every Sunday.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The announcement follows the success of the Summer of Free Public Transport, which began on December 24.<\/p>\n

The new initiatives will provide ongoing cost-of-living relief to Western Australian families \u2013 while continuing support for small businesses.<\/p>\n

The Ride to School Free Program will be specifically for travel to and from school Monday to Friday and will be available to those who hold a valid Student SmartRider card, while the Fare Free Sundays will be available to everyone with a valid SmartRider card.<\/p>\n

The Ride to School Free Program will commence on Monday February 5 while the Fare Free Sundays will begin on February 4.<\/p>\n

Premier Roger Cook explained the program was designed to ease cost of living pressures for WA families.<\/p>\n

“The cost of public transport for school kids adds up, and this measure alone can save families more than $500 each year,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It builds on our Summer of Free Public Transport, which saw a massive leap in public transport use, and delivered real savings for Western Australians.<\/p>\n

“Through METRONET, we’re expanding public transport right across our suburbs \u2013 and now more people than ever will be able to ride free,” Cook said.<\/p>\n

Families who have two children travelling to and from school daily on public transport could see savings of up to $560 across the school year as a result of the change.<\/p>\n

The Ride to School Free Program will benefit every student that rides the bus or train to school \u2013 with around 300,000 students currently holding Student SmartRiders.<\/p>\n

The new initiatives come on top of existing supports provided by the Cook Government to make travel cheaper for Western Australians including:<\/p>\n