Everyone in the UK that is 60+ should get free local train and bus travel at any time

[magapiemag]

Why is it just people in London that get this? Everyone 60+ should get this to make it a fair system. Plenty are 60+ and not retired so still work and free bus and train travel would be a very welcomed. Is this more of London creaming the goodies for its self and letting the rest of the country with a inferior service?

Yes. Rail travel in Northern Ireland is free during out of peak hours, which is why my siblings (who get a discount and it's not free) and mum prefer the bus.

If you don't use the card then it isn't charged to the public purse. Circumstances can change quite radically for those who are older. They may well be wealthy on paper but have little income.

Not just London. I have a bus pass and live out in the wilds a very long way from London.

I do not need the pass if I was to be strictly honest - I could afford the fares. But I do see it as a bit of compensation for the pains etc. that have accompanied being over 60.

Should I not have applied for the pass? WWYD?

Agree that ideally it should be means tested for people of state pension age but I take on board that this could be costly.

What really annoys me is that here in a very rural county where the nearest school is 8 miles away once the kids are in sixth form you have to pay £500 for the school bus!

DB nearly broke his neck to claim his bus pass as soon as he was eligible. Sadly, living out in the sticks, he wasn't able to use it for the better part of a year, because there were no bus stops within easy reach, being disabled.

I look forward to applying for the pass, if I live that long, I'm putting my application in. I think it helps sustain bus routes which in turn helps everyone in the community. Students get a travel card which entitles them to discounted travel. You never know when you will need a bus.

bearfish I am basing the 50k on a crude assessment of my missing annual pension receipts x 6 years.

I have been a higher rate tax payer for 20 years so your other sum doesn't compute either.

Oh and paying more for life? Unless you're in the SE, not true. Every other attribute - goods, food, credit - is vastly cheaper than it was during the lives of today's pensioners.

The exception is property in London and the SE, which is ludicrous. That's because people from the UK and elsewhere treat it as an asset class (nice for them if they can afford it, and it pays more than a bank account - see "cheap credit").

Even there, children of today's London/SE property owners will benefit in the longer term, when that generation has gone.

People in London get a much better deal in terms of transport. It costs a fortune where I live to take kids on the bus. Those in London get it for free. And no child or person over 60 gets free rail travel.

OAP's get a bus pass at 65 now I think. It is for off peak travel so no good if you still work.

In London you also get free train and tube travel. It's brilliant my parents never used public transport do now. It means when you can't walk the silly short distance between bus stops it's not finances that stop you hoping on and off the bus.
Plus they use it to come into town to the mostly free exhibitions and museums which helps increases their viability and footfall, helping keep thier minds active etc etc
Miserables so and so's here begrudging it

You won't get a bus pass at 65 if you haven't reached pension age here.

Yes 66 now here.

Personally I think all public transport should be free to everyone and city/town centres made into car free zones.

I've got the upmost respect for the elderly, the vast majority have worked since they were 15 and deserve every penny they get.

In fact there is a real problem with pensioners in poverty not wanting to claim anything that they are entitled to as they are too proud.

Pensioners own houses as they have worked their entire life in order to do so. Maintenance is not cheap!

I think it should be free for everyone except 60+

Nameforsaken why?

My Mum loves using her free bus pass and cheap train fares. She drives, has lots of disposable income/savings etc. She really doesn't need this 'perk'. I'd far rather see working people on low incomes/benefits get free travel so they can get to work without worrying about additional travel costs.

Free travel - for over 66s off peak on buses only, everywhere else except London, is based on the idea that many older people are no longer safe to drive, and many can no longer walk very long distances. So free bus travel keeps them active.
It is not means tested because it costs more to means test, that the amount of money it would save. So it is irrelevant if your well off elderly parent gets the bus free off peak. The reason it is given so those who have very little money can still be active.

If the Govt is serious about it being a safety thing then it really needs to do something about introducing mandatory driving tests for the over 66s - but that won't happen. The majority of people I know with free bus passes use them for local journeys to town to save on parking etc, but use their car for the longer journeys - nothing to do with safety.

We are the 6th richest country in the world, there is the money to help older people get out and about!

My mum is driven almost everywhere by my siblings, even though at 91, she just renewed her driving licence! She understands that this is on the basis of local driving only. She will not drive in ice or rain or dusk and dark. She is limited. She still likes to travel and does so safely by bus with her friends. She is an artist in retirement and an active member of the group. They like to go on outings with each other. Not all of them are as well off as her.

My parents are not well off - both in their 70s. My dad still has his driving licence, but like many elderly woman of that generation, my mum does not drive. The free bus pass means my mum can get out and about herself. She has arthritis, although is otherwise in good health. The arthritis is where she has some old sporting injuries that healed when she was younger - she was very sporty. But now can not walk long distances so needs to use buses.

The free bus pass is meant for people like her. If means testing it made financial sense, I would support that. But it would seem crazy to do so as means testing costs more than they estimate they would save.

Children should get free travel?! No I don't think so. If you can't afford your kids, don't have them.

And I really wish those in London would start realising that most of us do not get the same perks as those inside London do. I have seen this on lots of threads such as - I can't afford my kids travel by bus to school, A - well kids get free travel, so don't know what you are on about.
Note those who work for the Local Authority in London also have a shorter standard working week, than those who live outside. Many of us, even in cities or large towns, have no walk in centres, or even minor injury clinics.

They get enough fucking breaks! Think the free pass needs to go.

I wish those living outside London would realise that London pays far more in tax than it gets spent on it.

Tell you what we'll keep all of our lovely tax pounds and you can see what your services are like without us.