Great Western Coffee Shop

A scheme to introduce a cheap travel card for young people in the Bath area has been scrapped.
Bath and North East Somerset Council said in the present economic climate it would cost too much.
It was estimated that the cost of up to 5,000 young people using the scheme would have been between ^710,000 and ^4m per year.
The council needs to find ^30m in savings and up to 300 people across the authority could be losing their jobs.
The scheme would have offered young people either half-fare or free transport on buses and local trains.
The council said: "Although a youth travel concession would be of benefit to young people and would assist the council in working towards sustainable travel targets, the subsidy that would be needed to provide a meaningful concession would increase the financial pressure on the council."
At present, bus services operated by First offer discounted fares of 70% on adult tickets for young people.

A plan to give young people cheaper bus and train fares has been rejected because it could end up costing council taxpayers as much as ^8 million a year.

The youth card travel scheme was being examined by Bath and North East Somerset Council, which set up a cross-party working group in September last year.

It looked at similar schemes operating in other local authority areas, and at options where teenagers could buy passes entitling them to either half-price or free bus and train tickets.

The pass could have been sponsored by local companies which might also offer holders discounts at certain shops.

Youngsters representing the Bath area on the national youth parliament met council officers to look at how such a scheme might work.

Although the working group agreed that the system would benefit young people in B&NES and would help the council work meet sustainable travel targets, it was decided that it would be too expensive in the face of the public spending squeeze.

Initial estimates suggested that if 5,000 people signed up for the scheme, depending on the extent of the discount on offer, the cards could cost the council between ^700,000 and ^4.1 million a year.

That would be based on free bus travel for all young people in Years 7 to 11, with a cost of ^50 for the card.

It would cost the council significantly more, up to ^8.1 million, if 10,000 signed up for the system.

Meanwhile the Bath Bus Company, which runs the City Sightseeing open-top tours, has added extra stops in Bathwick, Claverton, Combe Down and Widcombe to its Skyline route, which is free to pensioners and other concessionary pass holders.

* Progress is being made in the search for an operator for the empty cafe at Bath bus station.

The ^13 million development opened in June last year, but the cafe has never been occupied.

Now First Bus, which owns the station, says it has someone interested in leasing the premises.