Bus Passes

Katiehound

In Lincolnshire (where rural services are very skeleton in some areas) note the following from 'County News'

"Current passes are valid until their expiry date, and the county council is continuing funding to allow holders to travel for free at any time"

Don't know if OAP visitors to the area would be able to travel at any time for free 'though.

John_Pierpoint

I have managed to use my "out of town" pass in London before 09:30 but I have noticed the increasing use of machines reading the pass. The probability is that the machine will know the exact rules, even when the driver doesn't (or doesn't care).

Farway

It is 0900 around here [Hampshire] probably due to rural bus scarcity, miss one & wait 2 or 24 hours, or in my case, 7 days for next bus to Chichester [Every Wednesday]

zygurat789

Katiehound wrote: »

In Lincolnshire (where rural services are very skeleton in some areas) note the following from 'County News'

"Current passes are valid until their expiry date, and the county council is continuing funding to allow holders to travel for free at any time"

Don't know if OAP visitors to the area would be able to travel at any time for free 'though.

Don't believe anything the authorities say, look what George Osborne said about pensioners taxation just last year.

THE RED BOOK

Budget 2011

Page 35

1.128 As announced in the June Budget 2010, the Government has reviewed how the CPI can
be used for the indexation of taxes and duties while protecting revenues. Consistent with this,
the default indexation assumption for direct taxes will be the CPI from April 2012. To
ensure employers and older people do not lose out, for the duration of this Parliament the
annual increases in the employer NICs threshold, and the age related allowance and
other thresholds for older people, will be over-indexed compared to the CPI, and will
increase by the equivalent of the RPI. The Government will review the use of the CPI
for indirect taxes once its fiscal consolidation plans have been implemented and the
duty increases it inherited from the previous Government have come to an end.

Lies, damn lies and government statements.

John_Pierpoint

Farway wrote: »

It is 0900 around here [Hampshire] probably due to rural bus scarcity, miss one & wait 2 or 24 hours, or in my case, 7 days for next bus to Chichester [Every Wednesday]

Too many rich people with cars, where you live?

I am quite impressed by the way that Brighton's buses reach out into the countryside - to mention a town a bit further along the South Coast.

butthead26

Pensioners are the biggest voting group in the country. Not just because there are so many of them but also because a higher percentage of them actually use their vote than any other age group. Scrapping their bus passes would be political suicide.

zygurat789

butthead26 wrote: »

Pensioners are the biggest voting group in the country. Not just because there are so many of them but also because a higher percentage of them actually use their vote than any other age group. Scrapping their bus passes would be political suicide.

They don't seem to care, they've already increased pesioners' tax bills.

Farway

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

Too many rich people with cars, where you live?

I think it is more lack of public transport, but you may well be right, bit chicken & egg, lack of passengers, remove bus service, remove bus service, buy a car.

"I am quite impressed by the way that Brighton's buses reach out into the countryside - to mention a town a bit further along the South Coast."

Yep, I use the 700 for return to Pompey from Chichester

John_Pierpoint

Farway wrote: »

I think it is more lack of public transport, but you may well be right, bit chicken & egg, lack of passengers, remove bus service, remove bus service, buy a car.

"I am quite impressed by the way that Brighton's buses reach out into the countryside - to mention a town a bit further along the South Coast."

Yep, I use the 700 for return to Pompey from Chichester

The 700 is almost as famous as the bus that runs between Oxford and Cambridge

http://wikitravel.org/en/Brighton_%28England%29

Can you use concessionary passes on route X5?
If you are an English concessionary pass holder generally you can travel for free after 9.30am Monday to Friday and at any time at the weekend - just place your card on top of the ticket machine, and tell the driver where you're travelling to. However, some local authorities allow travel before 9.30 – please check with them before you travel. Non-English concessionary pass holders are not entitled to free travel and must pay the concession rate – see X5 times and fares section of the site for prices.

http://www.stagecoachx5.com/x5stops.aspx

Following world war 2, Los Angeles had a fairly comprehensive trolley bus system,
but the car owners started getting in the way.
General Motors "invested" in the bus company and made a good profit by closing it down.

[Add the X30 from Southend on Sea and shell out the tenner to connect Stansted airport to Cambridge by National Express and you have created a low cost route through South Central England in half a day]

Doc_N

I doubt even this wretched 'government' would dare take bus passes away - it was a very clear election promise and a certain vote loser. Oddly, it's Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems who talk most about means-testing it, and who's ever going to trust Clegg again after the university fees fiasco?

Mind you, any party led by a couple of no-hopers about whom even one of their own MPs said recently:

"Unfortunately, I think that not only are Cameron and Osborne two posh boys who don't know the price of milk, but they are two arrogant posh boys who show no remorse, no contrition, and no passion to want to understand the lives of others – and that is their real crime."

is capable of shafting anyone - unless they happen to be wealthy!