A SCHEME offering cut-price travel to unemployed jobseekers in Leicester has been relaunched.
The Travel Aid programme is open to city residents and means local jobseekers can get a 50 percent discount on fares on all Leicester and Leicestershire bus services.
People can apply through Leicester City Council’s website, and passes are renewable every two months.
Travel Aid was running successfully in the city before the disruption of the pandemic, but is being relaunched as work and life return to normal.
Staff at the city’s three JobCentre Plus sites are giving information to jobseekers about the scheme, which has issued over 60 passes in the month since it was relaunched post-Covid.
Travel Aid is part of a wider package of city council transport initiatives designed to support low income and disadvantaged groups, as well as helping existing workers to travel to work in a sustainable and cost-effective manner.
Other schemes include the Wheels 2 Work programme, where people can hire electric bikes, with an option to purchase them.
The Santander E-bike Share scheme, which was launched in June 2021, also includes a range of targeting initiatives giving discounted cycle hire for unemployed job-seekers, low paid workers and other disadvantaged residents.
Cut-price bus travel is also available across the city – NHS workers can travel free on the electric buses operating from the city’s three Park and Ride sites at Enderby, Birstall and Meynell’s Gorse, while concessionary bus passes can be used at peak times on other services.
Under 16s who qualify for free school bus travel can also travel free of charge on any bus throughout the week and weekend.
Leicester deputy city mayor for transport and the environment, Cllr Adam Clarke, said: “With working life returning to normal following the pandemic lockdowns, we are relaunching this scheme to ensure unemployed jobseekers can get help to travel on the city’s public transport.
“We’ve already issued more than 60 passes over the last few weeks to people looking for work, meaning travel costs are not a barrier to people who need to commute to interviews, training or other placements as part of their search for employment.
“This is just one of the many ways we try to support people out of work and on benefits in Leicester - something which is more important than ever in the current economic circumstances.”
For more details or to apply for Travel Aid visit the city council’s website here: https://bit.ly/3ujBjEh
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