national concessionary pass

[j789]

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.

[Stuharris 6360]

Bring back Transport Tokens!!!

[Steveminor]

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.

[j789]

Bring back Transport Tokens!!!

They still exist!

[the trainbasher]

Couldn't Central Government fund it out of one big pot then after the pot is empty, the counties take over from them

[Tony]

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

[D10]

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!!

[Stuharris 6360]

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.

[Other Walsall Tony]

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.