Children to get behaviour lessons on public transport

School pupils are to be taught how to behave on buses amid fears of an increase in rowdiness sparked by free child travel.

Transport for London will send staff into citizenship classes, while its school liaison officers will interview children with a record of antisocial behaviour on the buses.

The move follows the Mayor's announcement that under-16s will travel free on buses from September. About 450,000 teenagers will qualify, costing TfL £70 million a year.

Free travel for under-11s was introduced last year. Ken Livingstone said the abolition of fares was a "gift" to teenagers that would be removed if they misbehaved.

He said the vast majority of buses now had CCTV cameras, meaning offenders stood a good chance of being caught and losing their right to free travel.

But TfL figures released to the Standard using the Freedom of Information Act show only a tiny number of cases end up in court.

Of the 700 incidents of criminal damage on the 8,500 buses logged between last November and April, just 130 led to arrests and six resulted in a sentence.

Of juvenile cases, 24 resulted in a reprimand, 13 in a warning and 43 led to bail. One offender had to spend eight hours cleaning defaced buses.

Roger Evans, Tory chairman of the London Assembly's transport committee, said the effect of free fares should be monitored closely.

He said: "While the vast majority of young people behave responsibly, large groups of youngsters travelling on buses can sometimes be intimidating to other passengers."