Children who do not own smartphones are being forced to pay hundreds of pounds extra each year for school transport, as bus operators shift to app‑only discounted passes. The trend is widening the financial gap for lower‑income households and directly conflicts with government guidance that encourages schools to keep mobile phones out of classrooms. Parents who deliberately avoid giving their children smartphones are now penalised, sometimes paying up to twice as much for the same journey, while campaigners warn that essential services are being designed around an assumption that every child has a device.
Digital passes leave poorer pupils behind
The issue began when Derbyshire County Council introduced a discounted travel scheme that is only accessible through a smartphone app. Under the b_line card, single fares on Trent Barton buses are capped at £1.50 for passengers under 18, but the discount is only granted when the card is registered via the app. “We made the choice not to give our daughter a smartphone, instead opting for a brick phone when she started secondary school this month,” said Adele Kightley, whose 11‑year‑old faces an extra £546 a year in bus costs.
Trent Barton’s ticketing machines cannot read the council‑issued physical cards, meaning children without apps must pay the full adult fare or a higher discounted rate. The company acknowledges the problem and says it is “working at speed on developing a new physical card to provide the discounted b_line fare for under‑19s.” In the interim, all young people receive a range of discounts off adult fares, but only if they use the app.
The situation is not confined to Derbyshire. Stagecoach and Compass, two other major regional operators, also require children to have a smartphone to access the best discounts. For families like the Kightleys, the financial impact is stark: “When our younger child starts secondary school, it will cost us nearly £1,100 a year more than it would if they had access to the discount through the app,” Kightley added.
Parents and campaigners fight back
Campaigners argue that the move undermines a growing movement of parents and schools trying to delay smartphone ownership. Daisy Greenwell, co‑founder of Smartphone Free Childhood, said, “There is now a huge movement of parents and schools trying to delay smartphones for children but, in many parts of the country, bus companies are making that much harder by charging smartphone‑free children up to twice as much for exactly the same journey.”
More than 200,000 parents have signed the group’s “parent pact,” pledging to keep their children smartphone‑free until at least the age of 14. Yet, Greenwell pointed out, “essential services are still being designed around the assumption that every child has one. For lower‑income families in particular, owning a smartphone can effectively become the price of accessing cheaper bus fares.”
The campaign highlights a broader social equity issue. Low‑income households are less likely to afford a smartphone, and the shift to digital‑only passes creates a new form of exclusion that mirrors other digital divides, such as access to online education and healthcare.
Bus operators respond and plan alternatives
Trent Barton’s spokesperson emphasised that the company is “working at speed on developing a new physical card to provide the discounted b_line fare for under‑19s.” The firm also noted that, while the app is the current gateway to the lowest fares, young passengers can still benefit from a range of discounts off adult fares regardless of payment method.
Stagecoach and Compass were contacted for comment but had not yet responded at the time of publication. Their websites continue to state that the best discounts are tied to app registration, reinforcing the perception that digital access is a prerequisite for affordable travel.
Local authorities are also reviewing the issue. The East Midlands Combined County Authority said it “sympathised with parents who did not want their children to have smartphones and would consider how young people accessed discounted fares as it developed the region’s fares and ticketing strategy.” This signals a potential shift toward more inclusive fare structures.
Government guidance clashes with fare policies
A law banning the use of mobile phones in English schools came into force in June. Some schools prohibit pupils from bringing smartphones on site, and the Department for Education has clarified that the legislation does not cover phone use during travel to school. However, critics argue that app‑only fare discounts effectively force children to carry smartphones, contradicting the spirit of the ban.
The Department for Education stated that fare discounts are a matter for individual bus operators, leaving a policy gap that allows digital exclusion to proliferate. Greenwell described the government’s stance as sending “mixed messages.” She added, “Bus fares shouldn’t be a barrier to schools choosing policies where smartphones aren’t brought on to site. Government and bus companies have a clear opportunity to fix this, so every child can access the same fare whether they carry a smartphone or not.”
Why it Matters
The rise of smartphone‑only transport passes threatens to entrench socioeconomic inequality at the very point where children should have equal access to education. When a basic necessity like school travel becomes contingent on owning a device, it not only imposes a direct financial burden on low‑income families but also undermines broader public health goals to limit screen time for young people. This issue demands urgent coordination between government, local authorities, and transport providers to ensure that fare policies do not become a new barrier to schooling. Failure to act will deepen the digital divide and erode the principle that every child, regardless of family income, should be able to attend school without facing prohibitive costs.
