Concessionary Bus Pass reform

[Barney]

RE: Concessionary Bus Pass reform

(31/07/2019 09:36)EBG 758 Wrote:  One of the principal concepts of providing free travel for the seniors is that it encourages them to get out and about. This in turn keeps them healthier in body and mind thereby reducing the demands placed on NHS services. As a side benefit, money saved on fares can be used to help the local economy, for example meeting friends for a coffee - this list is endless. The current law states that bus operators should be no better or worse off under this scheme. Undoubtedly Austerity cuts to local authorities and reduced government subsidies for the extended use to all of England has hit operators but the answer lies with providing bus companies with extra funding or total re-regulation of bus services.

I was waiting for someone else to post a response such as this before I added my view. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with providing concessionary travel for the elderly or seriously infirm. To suggest that there is tantamount to saying that these same citizens should not be given free healthcare by the NHS because they are the biggest drain on the NHS's resources.

If the same level of funding that TfL - a regulated market - is given to provide concessionary travel and bus services in general was made available by central government to the whole of the UK we wouldn't be having this discussion now. Also, despite what Stagecoach management might say publicly, without the concessionary travel passes many commercial bus services within Merseyside would be reduced or even withdrawn as these same passengers would simply be unable to afford to pay to use them.