Bus Passes

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  • Mr_Tiggywinkle
    Mr_Tiggywinkle Posts: 7 Forumite
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    jojo1964 wrote: »
    One of the reasons for speculation of the scheme being withdrawn is the amount of journeys being made by pass holders has increased massively, and one of the causes of that is the amount of "short" journeys being made, on my route i can leave the terminus ( in one town) with half a bus load, but by the time i leave that town i will be almost empty because the pass holders are traveling one or two stops, distances of a few hundred metres.

    I think it was made a lot easier by Stagecoach introducing the scan type ticket machines a few years back. Wheras before people may have been a bit embarrassed to ask the driver for a ticket just to go one stop they now simply scan their pass. Thankfully have just had mine renewed for another 5 years.
  • roddydogs
    roddydogs Posts: 7,478 Forumite
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    Theirs is no plan YET to abolish the Bus Pass, BUT it goes with the "Official" retirement age, ie if you are 60 this year, you wont get it till your 62 1/2 (woman)
  • dzug1
    dzug1 Posts: 13,535 Forumite
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    renegade wrote: »
    I have read somewhere , that in 2013 they will not be issuing any new passes to people who have not had them prior to this, so no passes for people who turn 60 yr in that year.
    My pass expires in 2015.

    So precisely where did you read this?

    Ill informed rumour mongering doesn't help.

    It may of course be an option that is being considered but it ain't fact
  • Edinburghlass_2
    Edinburghlass_2 Posts: 32,680 Forumite
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    roddydogs wrote: »
    Theirs is no plan YET to abolish the Bus Pass, BUT it goes with the "Official" retirement age, ie if you are 60 this year, you wont get it till your 62 1/2 (woman)

    Still available at 60 in Scotland.
  • seven-day-weekend
    seven-day-weekend Posts: 36,755 Forumite
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    I got my bus pass in 2010, it expires in 2014.
    (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
  • Francesanne
    Francesanne Posts: 2,081 Forumite
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    Received mine last week and it's valid until 31st March 2016.
  • pineapple
    pineapple Posts: 6,931 Forumite
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    edited 12 March 2012 at 5:28PM
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    Mine expires in 2016 also.
    But note there has been a proposal that it be means tested.
    http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2010-12/2665
    Does the government pay councils/bus companies for the passes? How do you guage the actual cost? A lot of pensioners would simply cut their travelling if it was withdrawn.
  • clemmatis
    clemmatis Posts: 3,168 Forumite
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    The government gives local councils money to pay the bus companies, but (councils say) some councils get too little, others, too much. And of course the bus companies say it isn't enough.

    I don't know how they calculate it.

    I agree, some pensioners would simply cut their travel.
  • John_Pierpoint
    John_Pierpoint Posts: 8,391 Forumite
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    roddydogs wrote: »
    Theirs is no plan YET to abolish the Bus Pass, BUT it goes with the "Official" retirement age, ie if you are 60 this year, you wont get it till your 62 1/2 (woman)

    No sex discrimination in bus passes, same rules for men and women.
  • giraffe69
    giraffe69 Posts: 3,558 Forumite
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    In London the rules for the Freedom pass(tube and bus) are that the minimum age has gone up in line with the pension age for women so currently it is about 62. You can calculate the exact age at http://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/services/freedompass/eligibility/default.htm#age
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