Please Stop Using Bus Passes - Transport Secretary

[Deleted User]

theres an easy solution to this problem(i get a disabled bus pass),in manchester before the passes became free off peak they had to pay a concessionary fare of 80p,why not just return to that,far cheaper than means testing and would save £20 million a year in grt.manchester alone

seven-day-weekend

margaretclare wrote: »

Exactly.

We have been in this position with mobility problems and it may happen again, which is why we intend to keep on driving our car as long as we possibly can. I once had to get to the hospital in the middle of the night when DH was literally at death's door and I couldn't have done it except by jumping into the car and driving there. He very nearly came home without one of his legs. As it is, he's been told 'it's as good as it's going to get', which means: he can't stand up for too long and can't walk any distance. He couldn't stand being thrown around the way bus-drivers around here seem to drive. I don't think anyone takes a bus journey just for fun, or at least, not round here.

I do. .

lilac_lady

What about the pensioners who are just above the line for receiving Pension Credit? No subsidised anything for them. That's the group that suffers most.

ian_duncan_smith

I'm 36 I have a bus pass and use it almost exclusively for long distance leisure journeys when travelling alone or with children under 5 years of age. Even though I have a bus stop outside my house I make a point of walking if the journey is less than a mile unless I'm having a really bad day (health wise). This is because it helps keep me moderately healthly without having to endure too much physical pain or discomfort. There are plenty of people for whom bus travel is essential, not just from the point of of travel but from a health and financial point of view. Whilst these pensioners are out of the house they are saving on fuel bills (gas, electric etc); they are keeping physically active, socially active, and mentally active. Many of these people form a routine around the bus times and often travel at the same time of day thereby forming a social network on the bus. The 80p that they save by not paying a concessionary fare, allows them the option to add another 40 or 50p to this and buy fish and chips from a small business at the seaside. Previously they would have purchased bread and filling from a supermarket to make sandwiches to take with them, hence now the money supports a small business rather going towards the bonuses of some fat cat executive at the head of a large multinational corporation (e.g ASDA or TESCO). As this small business does not have the huge buying power of the supermarket he will be obliged to pay the potato grower and fisherman a price for the indegredients which at least gives them a living wage etc etc etc....

I personally can vouch for the type of savings that can be achieved. Last year my total gas bill for the summer period was 50p. Yes that's right 50p. This was because I was hardly at home. My electricity bill also fell by around a third simply because I was out and about staring out of a bus window instead of watching telly, in front of the fan.

People who stay at home develop health problems earlier and are therefore more likely to be a burden on the NHS, those who stay active longer tend to stay healthier till the end, and hence use up less NHS resources.

If my bills were able to fall so much then just think for a moment how much of a contribution the bus pass is making towards achieving our targets on greenhouse gasses. If you stop to look at the wider picture you will realise that it is better to give a pensioner a bus pass than pay fines under international agreements for failing to achieve targets.

pollypenny

OH and I use our bus passes 'just for fun', too.

If the bus pass means that some pensioners can get out and about, instead of being stuck in the house - then they should use it!

I have some elderly friends in U3A who live in the out-lying villages - their passes are a life-line for them!

Mr_Oink

I don't think anyone objects to some pensioners being given free passes - just a degree of fairness:
1. Polarity (not usable at peak times) across the UK
2. Means tested (somehow)
3. Perhaps (as previously issued) a 'half fare pass' - so use is a little more controlled. Remember we *all* pay for these passes in the long run.

I'd personally like to see a tightening up of giving free passes to those that lay on a convincing story to a GP/Benefits section as to their entitlement. I have a brother in law who is a bus driver and he informs me there are a small set of people 'too ill to work, too ill to walk far' that have free passes, yet they are able to spend their days 'hanging around' bus stations and walking around his town. This kind of abuse should be curtailed before looking at pensioners passes.

zygurat789

Why are people so negative about these passes. As far as I'm concerned I can't see how I cost anybody tuppenceha'penny by using mine since the alternative is to use the car. And as far as I know all passes are half fare in the morning rush hour.
The advantages (to others) are less cars on the road with all the attendant benefits such as less polution, congestion, CO2 and accidents, we old ones are b*****s for causing others to have accidents by merely driving too slow.
The only real cost to the bus operators is when a non-motorist bus user gets a pass. Judging by the number of cars around there are precious few of them

iris

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

And the problem is?

As for pensioners using the bus in holiday times, well don't you think that THEY have had to pay all their lives, same as you? They haven't always been that age you know.

I am 60 and STILL paying £3.40 return trip (and I only go four stops :eek:) as my bus pass hasn't come yet.

Also I don't think your Child Benefit is means-tested is it? Why don't you give that up to help the economy if you can afford to do without it? It's about £35 a week for two children, isn't it? More than enough to pay the bus fare. And anyway, in my day, children stood up to offer pensioners and other adults their seats on the bus.

Well said SDW.

My DH and I also only had one child and there was no Child Benefit in 1964. We didn't have any more children because money was tight and we were buying our own home.

We do have a bus pass, but so far haven't used it as we live in a rural area with very few buses, but we thought we might use it when we go on holidays.

Iris

Mr_Oink

zygurat789 wrote: »

Why are people so negative about these passes.

The cynical could say:

Because old people fill up buses at peak times, moaning about other people trying to use the bus to get to work/school?

Because old people are often slow and cause a bus to run late -> result old people at subsequent stops moaning because their 'free' bus is late -> result later and later it gets -> repeat til fade?

I use a bus often and it's a royal PITA listening to moaning old people grumbling about the buses that they are not even paying to use. Feel like telling them to get off and flippin walk if it's not good enough for their royal backsides.

Personally I think we should be giving all children in full time education free buses passes *before* we give them to pensioners. Especially when we get stupid situations like this:

http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/s/2065641_rethink_on_cuts_to_school_bus_services

If we *can't* afford to bus kids to school, we can't afford free bus passes for pensioners. Period.

tanith

iris wrote: »

Well said SDW.

My DH and I also only had one child and there was no Child Benefit in 1964. We didn't have any more children because money was tight and we were buying our own home.

We do have a bus pass, but so far haven't used it as we live in a rural area with very few buses, but we thought we might use it when we go on holidays.

Iris

Iris I think you'll find Family Allowance started after the war in 1946 at 5s per week for every child except the eldest..but you wouldn't of received it for your only child till 1977 when it was modified to include the eldest child., it was introduced primarily to encourage people to have more children after the war years...