Following on from the discussion in the heartlands thread, what is everyone's view on the national concessionary scheme. Is it a good thing, a bad thing, should it be discontinued & if so replaced with what?
I personally would like to see the pass discontinued & replaced with the national transport token scheme of old where pensioners & disabled were given a set amount of tokens each month to spend on transport as & when needed. The reimbursement for operators was much better & there was far less abuse of the scheme as the amount of travel was finite people would travel for essential purposes & save up for more improptu days out. Not as now hop on & off in one stop "because it's free".
Quote from: Steveminor on March 11, 2015, 11:46:57 AM
Following on from the discussion in the heartlands thread, what is everyone's view on the national concessionary scheme. Is it a good thing, a bad thing, should it be discontinued & if so replaced with what?
I personally would like to see the pass discontinued & replaced with the national transport token scheme of old where pensioners & disabled were given a set amount of tokens each month to spend on transport as & when needed. The reimbursement for operators was much better & there was far less abuse of the scheme as the amount of travel was finite people would travel for essential purposes & save up for more improptu days out. Not as now hop on & off in one stop "because it's free".
I am a pensioner and pass holder.........I use my pass quite frequently,but I think a fairer method would be to withdraw the pass completely and increase the old age pension instead...at least then ALL pensioners would benefit instead of only those who use public transport.
No need then for continual squabbling about reimbursement for bus operators.
I already posted my thoughts on the Heartlands thread.
If pensioners lost their "free" pass I'm sure some of them would revert to driving cars and in my experience there are enough elderly drivers on the road who have signed the "form" to say they are still fit to drive! I'm not alone in thinking a contributory factor to modern congestion is reduced faculties of the ever increasing number of elderly motorists.
But as more routes are lost they have to drive anyway, but those who don't drive are now being cut off & stranded in their own towns/villages
I think they should have a swift card with a set allowance each month and if not used resets each month. The one thing that annoys me is listening to how much (some) oap's moan about the bus service and still try to take the piss by trying to use their pass before half 9. If your getting it for free then you forfeit any right to complain imo. Beggars cannot be choosers!
I think a set allowance would benefit those who need the bus to get around but not let them run up huge bills for everyone else!
I view concessionary passes as a subsidy from the government and also as an incentive for pensioners to use public transport instead of driving. Like someone else mentioned, what happens to pensioners who cannot drive but the bus service to their village has been cut off because nobody uses it?
Do concessionary holders have to stay in the network area?
Quote from: Trident 4194 on March 11, 2015, 05:47:02 PM
Do concessionary holders have to stay in the network area?
I think the clue is in the name... ;)
last year on the 529 from wolverhampton bus station there was a 529 timed to leave at 9.29am and the oaps used to moan that they were not allowed to get on it. They had to wait for the 9.36am 529
Quote from: Matt on March 11, 2015, 06:30:00 PM
Quote from: Chris2301 on March 11, 2015, 06:29:00 PM
last year on the 529 from wolverhampton bus station there was a 529 timed to leave at 9.29am and the oaps used to moan that they were not allowed to get on it. They had to wait for the 9.36am 529
Poor dears.
Tbh i think that the concessions on the trains should be removed as this is an extra benefit for the centro area
Quote from: arrifirststage on March 11, 2015, 01:12:13 PM
I am a pensioner and pass holder.........I use my pass quite frequently,but I think a fairer method would be to withdraw the pass completely and increase the old age pension instead...at least then ALL pensioners would benefit instead of only those who use public transport.
No need then for continual squabbling about reimbursement for bus operators.
I would think the cost of increasing the old age pension will be far higher than the cost of providing the passes. Also, the idea is for pensioners to be able to use public transport whether it be for health reasons, to get to the doctors or hospital, social reasons or whatever. I also suspect it takes away quite a few worries with many as to whether or not they can afford to make a journey.
I do think the reimbursement to bus companies for their bus journeys is lower than it should be, but at the end of the day the more people who use public transport the better it is.
It is the compensation payments to bus companies that is broken, not the free travel scheme itself
Sadly the government's commitment to the continuing the free past reflects the fact that voters in marginal constituencies are those who would be most put out by its removal, rather than its commitment to public transport!
I'm a concessionary passholder, and I use it whenever I can, a couple of days a week on average. I much prefer to let the bus / train take the strain rather than driving.
The pass is a life-line to some older folk, it gets them out and about, shopping, hospital visits, leisure - you've only got to look at most morning buses after 9:30.
I think Tony hit the nail on the head - it's the compensation to the operators that's too low. What is it? I think I read 80p a journey somewhere, but I stand to be corrected on that .....
I guess if they're going to change anything, they'll remove the rail add-on sometime, (as they tried to do in South Yorkshire, sparking a near riot, mind you :D). Actually, I'd be prepared to pay up to£30-£40 for the rail add-on if they started charging for it, but I guess the sheer cost of administration of changing the scheme for that would be prohibitive.
Quote from: Ossie on March 11, 2015, 08:15:14 PM
I think Tony hit the nail on the head - it's the compensation to the operators that's too low. What is it? I think I read 80p a journey somewhere, but I stand to be corrected on that .....
I guess if they're going to change anything, they'll remove the rail add-on sometime, (as they tried to do in South Yorkshire, sparking a near riot, mind you :D). Actually, I'd be prepared to pay up to£30-£40 for the rail add-on if they started charging for it, but I guess the sheer cost of administration of changing the scheme for that would be prohibitive.
It depends on the area but around 40p would be nearer the mark.
Bring back Transport Tokens!!!
In Weston super mare it was 35p.
The council also told me it must be accepted on the night bus service which had a single fare of £5 yet they would still only reimburse 35p.
The trouble with raising the reimbursement rate though is that it would cost the authorities too much money meaning more subsidised services being axed to save money. The very services where the passes are used & are needed most.
There has to be a middle ground where people keep free travel but where it's limited to a certain amount of journeys per month to keep costs down.
Couldn't Central Government fund it out of one big pot then after the pot is empty, the counties take over from them
Quote from: Stuharris 6360 on March 11, 2015, 08:42:36 PM
Bring back Transport Tokens!!!
Definitely not!
There would still only be the same pot of money to spend and those cost so much to administer there would be no money left to spend on travel
Quote from: the trainbasher on March 11, 2015, 08:51:37 PM
Couldn't Central Government fund it out of one big pot then after the pot is empty, the counties take over from them
Central government aren't interested in funding it, it is purely an election ploy. All the parties want the credit for "saving" the bus pass, but want cash strapped local government to pay for it!!
Thinking about it, surely it should be made a rule, only cards read by the machine are to be accepted. If the machine doesn't read your card, then you pay the fare. If the card is faulty through no fault of the person, then a refund would apply. This would stop fraudulent use of the unread cards button and no doubt save a lot of money.
andanother thing that should be stopped is allowing OAPs on buses at 9:20 and telling them to touch on the reader when they get off! have seen this on one route in particular and with a frequency of 8/9 minutes there is no excuse for it.
Quote from: Stuharris 6360 on March 11, 2015, 09:04:11 PM
Thinking about it, surely it should be made a rule, only cards read by the machine are to be accepted. If the machine doesn't read your card, then you pay the fare. If the card is faulty through no fault of the person, then a refund would apply. This would stop fraudulent use of the unread cards button and no doubt save a lot of money.
andanother thing that should be stopped is allowing OAPs on buses at 9:20 and telling them to touch on the reader when they get off! have seen this on one route in particular and with a frequency of 8/9 minutes there is no excuse for it.
Then what about pass holders from other parts of England whose passes are valid but will not read?
Why should they be penalised? I have used my Centro issued pass in London where showing it to the driver is the recognised method. I have never been refused there.
I use my pass 6 or 7 days a week, sometimes on rural routes, and once on a 291 I was the only passenger.