Image: Mike Dean (Eye Imagery)

A discounted bus travel scheme for young people is to be extended from December.

MyTravelPass is currently available for 16-18 year olds but will be extended to 21-year-olds.

Holders of the free pass, available online, are entitled to a third off on bus fares.

The move followed talks with the bus industry, Transport Secretary Ken Skates said. Its hoped the move will encourage more people to use the bus.

Discounted bus travel was introduced following a budget deal with the Welsh Liberal Democrats in the last assembly term.

It was ended in January 2017 at the close of an initial pilot, but the closure was criticised by Labour AM Lynne Neagle and the Lib Dems. It was reinstated a month later.

Young people in Swansea welcomed the news.

'Much more useful'

James Lister, 19, said: "I catch the bus every day. I've got a bus pass which costs me about £300 a year.

"This new scheme would mean more money for me to spend on food and on living as a student."

Maria Guerreroquintana, 18, said: "I catch the bus every day, mostly between campuses or if I'm catching it back home.

"I have a bus pass so I pay yearly for that. I think it would be much more useful to have a third off of our fare rather than paying for a year pass, which sometimes works out cheaper, because you may not use it every day."

Laura Williams, 19, said: "I have to get back and forth to work and it works out cheaper for me to get a taxi sometimes than the bus.

"It worked out that if I wanted a return, it would be £5 or £6. It would help me out and maybe I would catch the bus more."

Source: BBC