Travel FAQs for children and young people

For children and young people who are eligible for travel assistance, you may be offered:

• independent travel training
• personal travel budgets (PTB) that can be used flexibly by the family so that you can get to your education setting. For example, it can be used creatively for a sibling to get to breakfast club if it makes travel to your setting easier for your parent or carers.
• a place on a minibus or a taxi

Travel assistance will be appropriate to the individual needs and circumstances of the child or young person and will encourage them to grow in confidence and independence wherever possible.

We will encourage and promote sustainable travel options and will aim to improve the physical well-being of those who use them and/or the environment. To this end, priority will be given to walking, cycling, public transport, and shared transport.

You, your parent or carer must first make an application for travel assistance via Swindon Local Offer website. If you are over the age of 16 you can apply yourself.

Ths stages are as follows:

• Your application will be reviewed and the Travel Team will check your eligibility against the Travel Policy
• Eligibility criteria will be based on how far you live from your setting (distance), if the walking route is not safe, the level of support you may need to walk to your setting or if you have free school meals
• Once looked at, your application will be either approved or declined. You or your parent carer will be updated of the outcome of the application by the Travel Team. If your application is approved you or your parent carer will receive an update from the Travel Team with terms and conditions.  
• Once the terms and conditions have been acknowledged, the Travel Team will arrange the most appropriate form of travel for you, and you will be updated about pick up and drop off times 
• If your application is declined, you or your parent carer will have a chance to appeal the decision

If you are traveling by a bus or a taxi there may be other students also travelling to and from the same school. A driver will be onboard and there may be a Passenger Assistant (PA) there too.

PAs may call to introduce themselves so you know who you will be spending time with on the bus, however this is not guaranteed.

The Travel Team within Swindon Borough Council provide a route map to the PA and the driver so they know where to pick you up and drop you off. On the map they will have your address and your school as well as the time they should arrive.

The driver will wait outside both your house and your school to pick you up on time. Your parent carer should take you to the bus or taxi, and if you’re in a wheelchair, the driver will assist you onto the bus or taxi.

The driver will wait a few minutes for the children and young people to be ready for the transport to school. If you are late and miss the minibus or taxi, it then becomes the responsibility of the parents to get children and young people to school. 

Generally, you can sit in the same seat and that’s okay. You may not always be able to have a seat on the bus that remains yours. If you feel like you may need an allocated seat, please share your reasons why with your parent carer or a member of staff within your school or a staff member on the bus who can then go through your travel arrangements. They will then contact the Travel Team at Swindon Borough Council.

Please ring the Travel Team (North) on 01793 464165 / (South) on 01793 464166, or email them at travelnorth@swindon.gov.uk or travelsouth@swindon.gov.uk. 

If you think your journey could be improved, you can talk to your school or parent carer, or you can phone the Travel Team (North) on 01793 464165 or (South) on 01793 464166, or email them at travelnorth@swindon.gov.uk or travelsouth@swindon.gov.uk to share your thoughts.

There are lots of people who you can trust to speak but they will not keep secrets. You may wish to speak to your parent or carer, teacher, PA, or the driver. Once you have spoken to someone, they will speak to Contact Swindon - the front door to the Council’s children’s social care services.

Contact Swindon is a way for people to request any help and support for any safeguarding concerns or other children’s social care services. Contact Swindon will make sure the correct decisions are made for children and young people.

If a member of staff or volunteer from your school or transport have caused you harm then the Local  Authority Designated Officer will be informed and staff will be dealt with appropriately. 

Your parent or carer will be given the time you will be picked up from the Travel Team at the start of the school year. All routes are regularly looked at throughout the school year.

The times of the buses might have to change throughout the year depending on changes that might be needed to the route that is taken. This may be because of another child or young person has been added onto the bus, the PA might be sick or there might be traffic delays.

As soon as the Travel Team are aware of any changes, they will let parents, carers and schools know.