How annoying!!!
I think buses should be free for under 18s during term time. It might get some cars off the road during rush hour. Every morning four cars drive off our close with parents taking children to local schools which they could get a bus to (with a short walk afterwards) and 10 minutes later those same four cars come back
Staffordshire offer a card to the under 20s which gives them subsidised bus travel within the county, or on journeys starting or ending in the county but it's still £1 per journey and for Joe going to school it saves just 5p. It's different for Tom though as he's now full fare so otherwise we'd be paying £2 for him. Even so, it's £20 a week for both of them using their cards.
I just checked on Google maps and we're 2.28 miles away from school and it's a long way when you've got books, a packed lunch, a bottle of water, a PE kit, and in Joe's case, a guitar.