Isle of Man Transport is gearing up for bus fares to be reintroduced on all Bus Vannin school services tomorrow (Wednesday 7th January 2015).
 
More than 4,000 of the new Go School smart travel cards have now been issued to enable children to travel for the 25p concessionary fare.  Standard fares will apply for anyone who does not obtain advance journeys on a Go School card – half fare for children and older students on production of an accepted ID card; full fare for students aged 20 and over.
 
Ian Longworth, Director of Public Transport, commented:

‘We appreciate that this is a complete culture change for a whole generation of school children who won’t remember when the 20p school fares were stopped in 2000. It will be a learning curve for our drivers and passengers while we implement the new system.
 
‘We are also aware that a number of Go School cards purchased online after Christmas and up until Sunday evening were dispatched yesterday and may not be received before tomorrow. Five working days is the minimum time for online cards to be received. However, we are advising customers that their confirmation email will be accepted as proof of purchase to travel tomorrow (7th January) only.’
 
The number of Go School cards in circulation includes free school travel cards distributed by the Department of Education and Children to eligible students.
 
Go School cards can be purchased and topped-up online or in person at Ramsey Bus Station, Port Erin Station and the Welcome Centre:

Welcome Centre, Douglas – open Monday to Saturday, 8am to 6pm.
Ramsey Bus Station – 7.30am-5pm Mondays to Fridays; 9am-5pm Saturdays.
Port Erin Station - 9am-12.30pm and 1.30pm-5pm Mondays to Fridays.

More information can also be found on their website at  http://www.gov.im/categories/travel-traffic-and-motoring/bus-and-rail/go-cards/

Three types of Go School cards are available:

1. Go School 1 (SCH1) is for primary school children and valid on school days up to 6pm
2. Go School 2 (SCH2) is for secondary school children and valid on school days up to 6pm
3. Go School 3 (SCH3) is for full time A level students (or those on equivalent post 16 vocational courses) aged 16-19 years attending the IoM College of Further & Higher Education. It is valid during college term time up to 9.30pm on journeys to/from the college to enable students to access evening classes. A college ID card must also be carried and shown to the driver. Journeys can be taken only on Douglas routes away from the college after 6pm.

All journeys between home and school within the time limits above can be taken for a fare of 25p, which will be deducted from the card each time it is used.