Scottish budget includes pledge to expand free under-22 travel to ferries

INTER-ISLAND ferry travel will become free for people under the age of 22 – if the Scottish Government’s draft 2025/26 budget is approved.

The budget, published today (4 December), contains the pledge: “We will extend free bus travel to asylum seekers and provide free inter-island ferry travel to children and young people under 22.”

It will be a welcome update for campaigners who have long felt aggrieved that the successful Scotland-wide scheme to give free bus travel to under 22s introduced in 2022 was not extended to inter-island ferries.

They argued that for many islanders, going on an internal ferry was equivalent to taking a bus.

Earlier this year it was announced that the government was considering extending the scheme to ferries.

But the budget provides confirmation that the under-22 scheme will be expanded to ferry services.

It is understood that it will be for foot passenger travel.

A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: “With this budget, we will provide inter-island ferry travel to children and young people under 22 in Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles.

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“We will also seek to extend the concessionary ferry travel schemes, which provide four free foot-passenger trips to or from the Scottish mainland each year, benefitting island residents aged 16-21.”

Chair of Shetland Islands Council’s environment and transport committee Moraig Lyall said: “This confirmation is very welcome and hopefully will be implemented soon so that under 22s residing in our outer islands can benefit from free travel within their local area as urban youngsters already do.”