Children travelling alone on public transport

My first journey on a bus was with a school friend at the end of school and I was about 10. She encouraged me to give it a try and I was really excited. My parents didn't seem too bothered. We lived in a village where everyone knew everyone else so it wasn't difficult.
When I went to college in London I was based in digs and had to catch a bus to different areas every day for work experience. I would have been 16/17 years old at the time. Looking at the situation today it's changed and a bit worrying

I got the bus to school from age 5.

I'm another who spent journeys in the guards van. The only thing I really remember are big wicker boxes full of homing pigeons.
The station master at our little local station would take pity on us frozen schoolchildren when it was freezing and the train was late. He'd let us into his warm little room with it's coal fire to thaw out, and this was the era of Ian Brady and Myra Hindley.

During the day it seems ok but at night or after dark I wouldn’t be comfortable sending a young child on a bus or train alone these days. Things are definitely more dangerous now. We never, ever,had incidents with knives when I was young and I can’t ever remember anyone being robbed on public transport.

About 12. Different times I guess.

One of my London granddaughters couldn’t wait to travel alone on 2 buses when she started secondary school. Her mother agreed but soon realised that her 11 year old was disappearing into darkness at 7.15 on autumn mornings. When Covid arrived they had to travel to school by car and have done that ever since.
The world has changed 100% for the worse since we were children and their safety is paramount.

I travelled on public transport to secondary school at 11.
I think most parents ferry their children around nowdays.
We drove my youngest son to all of his University choices except one, Reading, we were unable to attend so he travelled on his own via train. When he got his results, guess which one he chose Reading, the only one we hadn't accompanied him to.
Offered him a small scholarship so think that helped.

We were discussi, who ng children and travelling at the weekend. We decided that DGS is 14 and well used to travelling around his home town on public transport should make his first long distance rail journey this summer. His parents will see him onto the train one end and 150 miles later his aunt will meet him at her station.

I had just turned 15 and travelled alone on bus, train, ferry to Ostend, and two more trains to Germany. On return a few weeks later travelled up to London every day to full time work in central London.
From the age of about 12 was travelling by bus or train to the swimming pool, cinema, friends etc and from about 6 walked about 1.5 miles alone to school.
My gd nearly 15 is now allowed to catch a train a few stops along the line.

I walked about threequarters of a mile to my junior school from the age of 7. We all walked and I think I was the furthest away from the school so started out alone and then friends joined with me as I got to their houses. At 11 I had passed the 11+ and then walked about the same distance to the railway station and took the train about 15 miles to Beverly where I went to the grammar school. This again entailed different groups of girls getting on at different stations. But we knew most of the people in our home area and any adult would have come across to check if I was alright if I was seen with any stranger etc. When I was 9 whilst still in the juniors I was also put in charge of my younger sister who had come up from the infants and so it was my job to be sure that she got to her class looking reasonably tidy and ready for lessons and then I went on to my own class. Absolutely no thought of being given rides in cars etc.

I was about 7. I was very street wise by 12 as we were allowed to play out all day sometimes and had a lot of freedom. Feel sorry for children today, ferried everywhere by car, no real freedom to speak off, seem to live their lives on the internet. We used to cycle everywhere as roads were not busy as they are now, we built camps in the woods, about 8 of us, learnt team building that way. There is safety in numbers. Children played outside in the street, not safe now, you hear such things.

I caught two buses to senior school at age 11, my children walked to their schools, our grandchildren are not on a bus route to school, so they’re driven most of the way.
Both of my children caught the bus to further education, including interview days, our granddaughter will do the same in September
There was far less car ownership in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, certainly far fewer women drivers, I’m not sure if public transport was better.