Under-22s in England should get free bus travel to access work and training, MPs say

Transport committee also suggests rural weighting for bus funding and a national policy for services in England

People under the age of 22 should get free bus travel to help them access work and training in otherwise cut-off communities, a committee of MPs has said, urging ministers to show more ambition to reverse a long-term decline in bus travel.

Plans to devolve powers over bus services to local transport authorities are welcome but are not enough on their own to make bus services more reliable in smaller towns and rural areas, according to the report by the cross-party Commons transport committee.