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[Deleted User]

I`m just going to hi-jack this thread for ONE post,but something of interest in todays paper which I hadnt heard before,and is connected to benefits and the disabled.
Apparently the govt. are considering means testing the bus passes given to oaps and some disabled people in the near future.

NASA_2

woodbine wrote: »

I`m just going to hi-jack this thread for ONE post,but something of interest in todays paper which I hadnt heard before,and is connected to benefits and the disabled.
Apparently the govt. are considering means testing the bus passes given to oaps and some disabled people in the near future.

Good to hear.

It really annoyed me in the past that people who didnt pay for their tickets were able to get a seat and I wasnt. I get round it by getting on three stops earlier now and making the seat mine.

Why should someone who is better off financially than me get free travel? Its absurd.

alwaysonthego_2

NASA wrote: »

Good to hear.

It really annoyed me in the past that people who didnt pay for their tickets were able to get a seat and I wasnt. I get round it by getting on three stops earlier now and making the seat mine.

Why should someone who is better off financially than me get free travel? Its absurd.

I think that they should also be means tested!

The tax payer heavily subidises public transport and it would make sense to make those who can afford to, pay for their ticket.

[Deleted User]

NASA wrote: »

Good to hear.

It really annoyed me in the past that people who didnt pay for their tickets were able to get a seat and I wasnt. I get round it by getting on three stops earlier now and making the seat mine.

Why should someone who is better off financially than me get free travel? Its absurd.

Very often the cost of administering the means test of a "benefit" is more than the cost of it being universal,after all why shouldnt someone who has worked and paid taxes for 50 years be rewarded with free travel,its hardly the equivilant of a lottery win is it?

Bogof_Babe

"Getting your bus pass" has been a milestone marker for longer than I can remember. It would be petty and mean spirited to start means testing it now.

Most people would probably only use it a couple of times a week, say £5 worth weekly cost based on average local routes. Yes there will be those who are out every day going for long distances, but they would be the minority.

Any government introducing this will lose the senior citizens votes at a stroke, and that's a lot of votes.

It will soon not be worth making any effort to pay your own way through your working life - just give up the struggle and get everything given you for no effort, as this seems to be the way to go these days.

NASA_2

woodbine wrote: »

Very often the cost of administering the means test of a "benefit" is more than the cost of it being universal,after all why shouldnt someone who has worked and paid taxes for 50 years be rewarded with free travel,its hardly the equivilant of a lottery win is it?

Fine, just take it off them altogether, I'm not that bothered.

Why should someone that has £20,000 in the bank travel free from Aberdeen to Dover (Just a for instance) when somone on minimum wage has to pay full whack. Its an absurd system. Old people and the disabled go on about discrimination - its only bad when its against them - when its for them its wonderful.

And its not their '50 years tax money' that is paying for it.

[Deleted User]

NASA wrote: »

Fine, just take it off them altogether, I'm not that bothered.

Why should someone that has £20,000 in the bank travel free from Aberdeen to Dover (Just a for instance) when somone on minimum wage has to pay full whack. Its an absurd system. Old people and the disabled go on about discrimination - its only bad when its against them - when its for them its wonderful.

And its not their '50 years tax money' that is paying for it.

Sounds like you never intend to get old or for that matter suffer a disability,lets hope you`re right on both counts eh?

NASA_2

woodbine wrote: »

Sounds like you never intend to get old or for that matter suffer a disability,lets hope you`re right on both counts eh?

I'll be dying at a time and place of my choosing and I doubt I will be even close to being a pensioner when the time comes so I guess you could say that I never intend to get old.

I'll take my chances with never getting a disability - if I was to I could always implement my intention never to get old a bit sooner.

Bogof_Babe

I wouldn't mind betting a lot of over 60s use their bus pass to attend hospital appointments, which sadly become all the more frequent with ageing. The cost of hospital parking is prohibitive (wouldn't be so bad if you could pay for an hour and be sure you're not going to be kept waiting around for 2-3 hours!), so using the bus is the logical solution.

They might even think twice about attending if they have to pay to travel there.

As others have said, all that would happen if bus passes were scrapped would be that the services would be reduced to peak times (i.e. the morning and evening work runs), so anyone of any age and wealth would be penalised if they wanted to use the bus during the middle of the day, or in the evening, because there might not be one to use.

healy

There may be transitional protection as far this is concerned for those already receiving a pension when/if the change happens.

I think it is likely to affect those who get pensions after the change though.

I am not saying this is what will happen but it is the way things have usually worked in the past.