As a part of a government-funded scheme named Bus for Jobs, bus companies have come forward to help unemployed with free travel, with the help of a card which will make them eligible for free bus rides in January.

The JobCentre Plus Travel Discount Card will enable around 800,000 people across Britain who have been without a job for between three months to a year, with free bus travel. Eligible people are those who claim jobseeker’s allowance, incapacity benefit, employment and support allowance or income support.The card already enables them to enjoy half-price journeys.

The Bus for Jobs scheme was co-ordinated by Greener Journeys, a campaign group involving leading bus companies and supporters including Transport for London (TfL) and the RAC Foundation.

Arriva, First, Go-Ahead, National Express and Stagecoach are among the operators signed up to the deal, which covers 70% of routes in England, Wales and Scotland. The new transport scheme could extend beyond January if it garners good response.

The local bus operators taking part are Trent Barton, Kinchbus, Blackpool Transport, Cardiff Bus and Network Warrington.

However, the scheme is not valid on some routes and services operated by these companies such as most of their longer-distance coach services and airport bus services. Details of participating bus companies and routes is available at www.busforus.co.uk. Passenger will need to present their JobCentre Plus Travel Discount Card to the driver, and carry it on them when making journeys on participating bus routes.

The free bus travel initiative runs for the calendar month of January 2013 - Tuesday 1st January to Thursday 31st January inclusive.

The ‘Bus for Jobs’ initiative was also welcomed by the transport minister Norman Baker, who said,”This move will benefit the industry as well as jobseekers, as young people are not only a key section of the market – they are the future of the local bus industry.”