Bus pass

Exactly what I was going to say Lemongrove. We have a whole thread of hysterical oldies getting their knickers in a knot about something that may never happen.

How about moaning when this bit of fake news actually happens, or rather when it doesn’t happen.

I think the reasoning was that only getting 75% of the needed amount to make route profitable means the end of a service Nandalot. But if the pass users had paid half the fare and the authorities the other half the company could of kept it going.

Mine does bus and train but I never use it. Would probably take all day to get anywhere here.

“A bus company needs to cover costs”! That’s why it needs to be a not for profit public company. The clue is in bus SERVICE. Not to mention if public transport was joined up, hopefully less people would use cars, air pollution would decrease, thus less environmental damage.

In my book, subsidise services for all including NHS, education, social services etc.b

I treasure my bus pass. I use it almost daily and far from losing it I think bus travel should be free or at least very cheap for everyone and paid for by increasing road tax.
The bus companies get money and fill their buses
Our buses are full of the elderly, the disabled and other pass holders, all of whom have the freedom to visit other towns, cities or just to get out to the shops or hospital appointments.
We help to reduce other traffic by using the buses. It makes for happy, healthy people.
Do we really want to go back to a time when older people were fumbling for change?

I have just looked this up on the Which guide to what the Conservatives propose to do, one of the pledges is to retain the older persons bus pass. A bit of scaremongering going on,

A bus needs to cover its costs and many companies claim that they don't. Some only survive because they do school routes. Rural routes have always been heavily subsidised, but the county councils can't afford to do so any more, without putting up council tax.

Please make use of your bus pass whilst you still have it. I should have got mine (along with my State Pension) three years ago, but I made the unforgiveable mistake of being born at the wrong time. Yes, I'm a 1950s woman whose State Pension Age has been raised from 60 to 66. I'll believe my bus pass when (or more likely if) I see it.

Sorry, jusnoneed, I don’t really follow the bus company’s reasoning. Surely a bus full of old people paying 75% of the fare is better than an empty bus? Also how full does a bus have to be to be profitable. Surely if it is earning the equivalent of three quarters full of passengers, the route should be viable.

Short -sighted of course!

We lost our "to town" bus service here, it used to come around our area from local town, back again and then onto bigger town 5 miles away. Hourly service 8-5. The bus company said it wasn't viable because the main users were people with bus passes and they never received enough from the local authority to cover the fares (got about 75% of the rate they would have to charge fare paying customers). You would see the buses full of older folk and some would go daily, some all over the county.
I think a fairer thing would be user paying half fare, then authority paying other half.

Exactly, and the ability to get out and about keeps people fitter and helps mental health too. It is a shirt-sighted saving.

I ve had a bus pass for nearly 10 years and it’s my life saver with no car I wouldn’t go out nearly as much if they stop them
I ll be very upset
This government is a disgrace

Exactly varian. We have one bus route, which doesn't run on Sundays.

This rotten lot will cut anything but their own expenses and pensions. Just don't vote for them.

I've had a bus pass for many a long year. I might have used it if we had any buses near here.

Bus passes might as well be promises for pots at the end of a rainbow if you can find them. Conservative central government has been cutting grants to local councils for years, so the local councils have no option but to reduce support for unprofitable bus routes.

unfortunately they can and are so cruel, mostly I think because most of them don't actually know any ordinary people and cannot imagine how policies affect them. maybe don't care anyway. there's still a lot of snobbishness, looking down on people whose lives are not privileged like theirs, with the sense of entitlement and feeling they merit their advantages.
look at the windrush scandal. it was pointed out to them what the consequences of the hostile environment could be; they dismissed as scare=mongering. how could anyone grown up not have a passport etc. look what happened to so many people, some still suffering. think it couldn't happen again...

We had a thread on this last week
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/04/25/scrap-free-bus-pass-tv-licence-pensioners-promote-intergenerational/

This government does not care about people who use buses, they are still of Mrs Thatcher's opinion that anyone over 30 who uses the bus is a failure.
They also do not care about climate change and have no will to reduce the number of cars on the roads.

Certainly doesn't sound good and will adversely affect lots of people - and the bus companies. Our village service would probably end and we'd be cut off unless able to drive.

Our passes are free. Paying a small amount for a pass, as happens in some places, I think, is reasonable.

Even if they try to stop them, though, it still has to get through Parliament - or not (I hope).

Wouldn’t put anything past Boris and his shower.