The House of Commons Transport Committee has opened an inquiry into whether transport is stopping young people from getting into jobs, training and further education.
The inquiry, Getting to work: transport connecting young people to jobs and training, follows figures the Committee cites showing that 1 in 8 16 to 24-year-olds in the UK are not in education, employment or training (NEET), with transport named repeatedly as a causal factor.
Much of the groundwork for the inquiry already exists. The government's interim Young People and Work report, led by former health secretary Alan Milburn, found that transport was a real barrier to work and training, particularly for young people without a driving licence or access to a car, and for those in rural, coastal and former industrial areas. It pointed to bus service cuts outside London since 2010, worse still in rural areas, where thin evening and weekend timetables shut people out of jobs with non-standard hours. Fewer young adults now hold a driving licence than previous generations did, and for those with no income, running a car isn't realistic, leaving public transport as their only possible route to work.
The Committee's own 2025 inquiry, Buses Connecting Communities, reached a similar conclusion: patchy services and high fares in under-served areas make it harder for young people to reach college, training, entry-level jobs and shift work.
Committee chair Ruth Cadbury said MPs want to "dig into the detail" of transport as a barrier to work and training, and that they're keen to hear from transport providers, employers and further education providers – and, above all, from young people themselves, from across the country.
The findings are expected to feed into wider transport policy decisions, including how public transport investment supports economic participation and regional growth outside major cities, where jobs are often spread over a wider area and services run less often.
Anyone in the sector wanting to contribute can submit evidence – transport providers, employers and young people are all invited. More details are available on the inquiry page on the UK Parliament Committees site.