Free bus pass under threat?

dzug1

zygurat789 wrote: »

I too have a bus pass which I use whenever I can instead of the car it saves on CO2. Yes if it wasn't free I wouldn't use the bus, how much am I costing the LA? How do they even know I took a ride I've only once been issued a free ticket.

How they know depends on the LA's contract with the particular bus company. Systems I've seen:

press a button on the ticket machine to record 'a' journey (how conscientious - or honest - is the driver?)
issue a ticket for the journey with zero fare
issue a ticket for the journey for the actual fare but endorsed XXX Council
jot down details on a clipboard (yes really)

and that's ignoring the chip on the card which at some stage will automate the whole thing - well maybe not for the company that uses a clipboard.

I use mine a lot on occasional visits to London - locally rarely. The bus into town gives either 2 minutes or 2 hours there, and really I only want half an hour. So back to the car.

If it becomes half price - well back to Oyster in London and a rare journey locally.

seven-day-weekend

Half price will still be better than the full price I pay at the moment, but free would be even better!

I understand the Councils can't necessarily afford them and if it is scrapped sobeit, but otherwise I shall not only claim mine but use it too. However, I feel sorry for those pensioners for whom it is their only mobility, who can't drive/walk.

I will use the car more if I have to pay full fare , but will also continue to use the bus for the journeys I do already.

alared

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

I understand the Councils can't necessarily afford them and if it is scrapped sobeit,

If they thinned out half the pen-pushers and all the bureaucracy, it`s easily affordable.

Still say it`s got something to do with the EU,Spanish have had it for years plus free holidays and free entrance to museums etc.

This government only wants to be in the EU for certain things and tries to avoid paying out for others,if it can get away with it.

cbrown372

margaretclare wrote: »

I've never seen what was wrong with the half-price pass. We had one in our local authority area and it seemed to work quite well. I used mine maybe 5 or 6 times in 10 years. DH used his when he worked shifts at the call-centre - the bus stop was right outside his office. As for the free pass, I've never used it.

possibly because different bus companies had their own offers whereas the free pass covers all the companies.

Why did you apply for the free pass if you have no intention of using it

seven-day-weekend

alared wrote: »

If they thinned out half the pen-pushers and all the bureaucracy, it`s easily affordable.

Still say it`s got something to do with the EU,Spanish have had it for years plus free holidays and free entrance to museums etc.

This government only wants to be in the EU for certain things and tries to avoid paying out for others,if it can get away with it.

I've lived in Spain full-time for five years and never heard of free holidays!

There are subsidies to attractions for pensioners (not necessarily free) in Spain, as there are in the UK.

Every museum I've been in in the UK has been free to everyone.

alared

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

I've lived in Spain full-time for five years and never heard of free holidays!

In the winter the hotels are full of Spanish pensioners who are entitled to a subsidised holiday every year.

"Did you know that thanks to the Spanish Government sponsoring a holiday programme, all resident pensioners here in Spain, Spanish nationals and ex-pats alike, qualify for subsidised holidays? It is a fact that Spanish pensioners enjoy, year in year out, cheap organised trips all over Spain and Portugal, including the Balearics and the Canaries".

http://www.roundtownnews.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21144&Itemid=9

Imagine this crappy government doing that.

margaretclare

cbrown372 wrote: »

possibly because different bus companies had their own offers whereas the free pass covers all the companies.

Why did you apply for the free pass if you have no intention of using it

It was offered to me when the half-fare pass was discontinued. I thought I might possibly use it but so far, I haven't.

Will it save the Government money if I send it back?

alared

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

Every museum I've been in in the UK has been free to everyone.

Free since 2001 after a 4 year campaign to abolish them, and may be reintroduced.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/5373708/Recession-may-force-museums-and-galleries-to-charge-visitors-entrance-fees.html

seven-day-weekend

alared wrote: »

In the winter the hotels are full of Spanish pensioners who are entitled to a subsidised holiday every year.

"Did you know that thanks to the Spanish Government sponsoring a holiday programme, all resident pensioners here in Spain, Spanish nationals and ex-pats alike, qualify for subsidised holidays? It is a fact that Spanish pensioners enjoy, year in year out, cheap organised trips all over Spain and Portugal, including the Balearics and the Canaries".

http://www.roundtownnews.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21144&Itemid=9

Imagine this crappy government doing that.

Yes I did know about that. Many of our villagers go on them. But they are not 'free' (a week-long trip to Galicia in NW Spain from our village in southern Spain was £300-ish euros and did not include meals). It's a good scheme, although you can usually negotiate a cheap hotel in both Spain and UK out of season.

moneyforoldsoap

I use my buss pass frequently it is my only means of transport, if they take this away I cannot afford to pay the price they are asking for a ten min journey which will cost me £1.80 each way, this will be expensive over the week so will not use it as I cannot afford to.