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Free bus pass under threat?

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Trying to keep it simple...;)
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  • margaretclare
    margaretclare Posts: 10,789 Forumite
    edited 6 August 2009 at 2:37PM
    I said from the beginning that this idea was unsustainable.

    There are many people who (a) couldn't get to the bus stop to use the bus and (b) have no bus service where they live.

    I've never understood why we couldn't have kept on with the half-fare pass that we used to have. Even with that, in 10 years I used it maybe half a dozen times.

    I don't see that it's anything to do with middle-class or any other class. That's just a smokescreen.
    [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Æ[/FONT]r ic wisdom funde, [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]æ[/FONT]r wear[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]ð[/FONT] ic eald.
    Before I found wisdom, I became old.
  • Biggles
    Biggles Posts: 8,209 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Yet another U-turn by this government? How many have there been already? Trouble is, it doesn't know it's own mind.

    Getting cars off the road should be good, regardless of whether they are 'middle-class' cars.
  • delain
    delain Posts: 7,700 Forumite
    i hope they scrap it.

    My local bus company scrapped child fares before 9am to make up the shortfall, so i was paying for 4 adults every day for me, my 6 yr old, and my 5yr old twins. Then they scrapped the route altogether citing free passes.

    So tell me, rich elderly people go everywhere for free, whilst a young family pays £160 per month for the same thing?

    definately should be means tested.
    Mum of several with a twisted sense of humour and a laundry obsession :o:o
  • margaretclare
    margaretclare Posts: 10,789 Forumite
    So tell me, rich elderly people go everywhere for free...

    Not sure who the 'rich elderly' are, I don't personally know any I could describe as 'rich'! Just because we rely on our car to get around doesn't make us 'rich'. DH and I are not poor but we're not exactly rich either.

    Go everywhere for free...only if you're physically capable of walking to the bus stop, waiting at the stop, getting on the bus, maybe changing buses to go somewhere else - it all adds up to an awful lot on your feet. DH couldn't do it - he's still on a crutch, and I'm pretty sure I couldn't do it either, although of recent weeks I can actually walk as far as the bus stop, couldn't do even that for ages.

    Maybe if you're a reasonably fit 60-year old who lives on a convenient bus route, it's do-able. For many of us who're older than that and/or have e.g. joint replacements, it doesn't work.

    But I actually agree with you. Trying to use public transport with one or more children, push-chairs, shopping etc is far from easy. I don't need a free bus pass and don't use the one I have - you can have mine and welcome.
    [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Æ[/FONT]r ic wisdom funde, [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]æ[/FONT]r wear[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]ð[/FONT] ic eald.
    Before I found wisdom, I became old.
  • delain
    delain Posts: 7,700 Forumite
    Around here there are a lot of them, and maybe they are not millionaires but 80p for a bus ticket would not kill them... and their attitude is awful.

    One of them complained to a bus driver about me:

    'she shouldn't be allowed to bring that buggy on such a short bus trip from town'

    driver says: 'she comes from the far end of the route and has to catch 8 buses a day (he knew me fairly well) for school and nursery'

    I wasn't on the bus when this went on, but the driver told me the next day.

    I know not everyone is like this, but she gives the whole group a bad name. At least i'd paid to get on it!

    I would just like a fairer policy for everyone, with appropriate charges. Obviously some people need help, but others could be paying their share as well!
    Mum of several with a twisted sense of humour and a laundry obsession :o:o
  • BeenieCat
    BeenieCat Posts: 6,567 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    delain wrote: »
    a young family pays £160 per month for the same thing
    Omg, that's extortionate! You could easily run a car for much less than that!
  • soolin
    soolin Posts: 74,097 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Well at least they are finally admitting that any talk of the Government being concerned with green issues was nonsense. Originally they had wanted less cars on the road, it was nothing to do with whether one could afford to drive or not it was sold to us as a green issue, make use of public transport and leave your cars behind. So, people stopped using their cars and used the buses instead and suddenly it is all to do with money.
    I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the eBay, Auctions, Car Boot & Jumble Sales, Boost Your Income, Praise, Vents & Warnings, Overseas Holidays & Travel Planning , UK Holidays, Days Out & Entertainments boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know.. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com.All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
  • EdInvestor
    EdInvestor Posts: 15,749 Forumite
    Most car owners I know don't use buses very often because they are not located near convenient bus routes (hint: that's why they have cars).

    Have to agree that there will be a big backlash if it is dropped.

    It's quite amusing to note that all the mothers with buggies and small children on the buses feel perfectly entited to occupy as many seats as they wish, at the expense of the pensioners, because they have paid for their tickets and the pensioners haven't ( the Government has paid for the pensioners' seats of course, they are not actually free).

    Methinks this a ploy by councils to extract more subsidy from central Govt.It is true that the move impacts variably on different areas, as some have very high pensioner populations.On the other hand it's very positive for the economy in a recession to get the pensioners out and about spending their money (including the money they saved on the bus fare!)
    Trying to keep it simple...;)
  • I am 60 in January and later on in that year should also be able to call myself UK resident once again, and threfore entitled to the bus pass.

    Now, I do drive and we do have a car, but tbh, for going into the city centre or elsewhere with in the city boundaries, the bus would win hands down if I had a pass. No parking to worry about, no traffic to contend with. I have access to several buses within a few minutes walk, all run every 10-15 minutes.

    Even to go to Birmingham would be MUCH easier by bus or tram.

    So I am actually looking forward to my bus pass - and it will certainly get used! Hope they don't scrap it before then!

    My husband, otoh, probably won't even bother applying for his.
    (AKA HRH_MUngo)
    Member #10 of £2 savers club
    Imagine someone holding forth on biology whose only knowledge of the subject is the Book of British Birds, and you have a rough idea of what it feels like to read Richard Dawkins on theology: Terry Eagleton
  • krisskross
    krisskross Posts: 7,677 Forumite
    edited 6 August 2009 at 8:38PM
    delain wrote: »
    i hope they scrap it.

    My local bus company scrapped child fares before 9am to make up the shortfall, so i was paying for 4 adults every day for me, my 6 yr old, and my 5yr old twins. Then they scrapped the route altogether citing free passes.

    So tell me, rich elderly people go everywhere for free, whilst a young family pays £160 per month for the same thing?

    definately should be means tested.

    As the very grateful recipient of a bus pass I hope they scrap your tax credits to pay for me to keep it. Unfortunately you appear to think the same as G.Brown that only families matter. Families are well provided for these days, to the detriment of everyone else.

    Our bus passes are the only thing we get apart from the SRP we have paid in for with 80 odd years work between us. I'm sure you get far more than us from the welfare system. I do realise they are expensive to provide but we pay full council tax plus income tax on our pensions etc so this is a bit back.
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