To think bus passes for all under 25s is a fab idea

[jnfrrss]

Around here the bus is so expensive that it's cheaper to run a car but many young people can't afford that while saving for a deposit. This is a really good policy by labour imo. I would also restore the bus pass to JSA people as that is really needed.

Corbin appeals to the grabby, “something for nothing” brigade.

He's like the Pied Piper isn't he?

Living in cloud cuckoo land.

What angers me is that I have to wait till I am 66 for a free bus pass, but if I lived in London I would get it at 60. London is still a part of the UK isn't it? (Although I do wonder.....)

I'd agree if it was for school age children (may help to get more cars of the road at certain times of the day) and for over 60's. but never this.

Well unless all the bus companies dance to the Pied Piper's tune, it won't be happening anyway (IF, and it is a HUGE if, he ever got near No10). So I think we are safe from his madness.

Phew.

I think maybe just work on the situation they already have rather than implementing such a big change. Student cards for trains, for example, you get a nice discount if you travel at the right time of day and spend over a certain amount. Makes the card pointless for so many students.

I try to avoid getting the bus and DP will do anything so not have to get it, they are just so horrible around here. They do run regularly to some places and then to others, it's so hit and miss whether or not the bus will actually turn up.

*funding not finding

Bel because if they are using a service, it is reasonable to contribute towards it. Also if people pay for a service, they value it more.

I'm not saying under 18s shouldn't have a reduced fare, but it shouldn't be free. In London the buses are massively overcrowded. There is also nothing wrong with walking a short distance!

I think it's a great idea, though have to note that this is only an English policy - Westminster have nothing to do with transport where it is devolved. I think under 25s have greater need for free transport than the 60 - 65 year olds who are able to commute to work free. At the very least travel to university, college and apprenticeships should be free.

Of course it is a good idea. But who pays for it? Bus companies can't run on fresh air!

Who will fund this. It certainly shouldn't come from council budgets given that many necessary services have already been cut.

But that's not how the overall tax system works is it TheVastMajority?

I still pay tax for the NHS even if I don't use it. I don't get a tax refund if I pay for private healthcare. People without kids pay tax that funds education, even though they aren't using the schools. Tax payers in London pay tax that goes to provide services in poorer ares of the country. I could go on!

@MumofBoysx2 says it's funded through road tax

"Labour said the funds would use about a fifth of the income from vehicle excise duty revenues, forecast to be £6.7bn in 2021, which is currently allocated to road building.

The party said it would widen the hypothecation and use the pledge of the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, for a £250bn National Transformation Fund to pay for road building, to be paid for by government borrowing."

I think the concern BitOut is that funds would be diverted from elsewhere to finance a scheme that will have very little benefit to young people in rural areas.

In parts of the North of England there are still bridges and roads closed following Storm Desmond in 2015. Most people living in those areas would rather have that fixed first, or perhaps even just some basic investment in potholes and decent cycle lanes for all the MAMILs that visit at the weekends before money was thrown at a different transport project that have very little benefit to them.

Local councils have the power to implement schemes locally already if they wanted to.

It's Labour unashamedly and blatantly courting the youth vote and it will backfire on them.

Another great idea spending other peoples money.

"If I lived in London I would get it at 60. London is still a part of the UK isn't it?"

Yes, and the age is going up here too, phased increase already begun and it will be 65 by 2020.

Of course, that's a different argument and not just for people in rural areas. I would want to know where the money was coming from even though my family would benefit.

But that's a different argument to "That's not fair because our buses are shit" which is a sort of race-to-the-bottom argument that I hate. "You shouldn't get it because I can't" sort of thing

www.mayorwatch.co.uk/sadiq-confirms-restoring-60-bus-pass-he-axed-as-minister-will-cost-94m-per-year-by-2021/

As mayor, he reintroduced increasing age for eligibility. The linked article is from 2016, when you needed to be 63 and by 2020 you need to be 65, and 66 thereafter.

From the BBC article, the £1.4bn policy would be paid for by cash from vehicle excise duty currently earmarked for road improvements.

Taking infrastructure money to fund populist giveaways. Can there be anything more irresponsible or an any more nakedly voters-at-any-cost policy? This is shameful

I think it's a ridiculous idea. My DS is earning the national average wage at 24 with the additional benefit of still living with us so his living expenses are low. Why would someone like him be given free bus travel but a middle aged man or woman on the minimum wage with dependants to support have to pay?

I think this is a terrible idea! So basically only 25-65 year olds have to pay for buses. That's crazy!

Bringing back military service for under 25s will be the Tory alternative

Excellent idea!

Labour don’t have a chance in hell of getting in to power so it’s hardly worth the discussion of their policies anyway.

I think (and hope!) you're right, and given what they're in opposition to that is a very sad reflection on them.

Corbyn says stuff like this everytime it's close to an election because it gets all the younger adults voting for him, and there are fucking loads of them!
Last time it was free uni for all (after the election he admitted that wouldn't be feasible at all) and now this.
Bad idea from yet another labour politician who is living in a dream land.

I suppose it become a case of 'we want to make travel cheaper for some young people, by paying for their travel passes by applying an extra tax on running cars. So some young people will be excluded from the scheme as there is no local provision but they will still have to pay the higher tax on the type of travel available tomthem'

I think it needs to be a local, not a national scheme. So it can be better aligned with actual services and demand for transport.

No free bus travel for children here. Only
For under 5s.
There are passes for 11-15 and passes for 16-18 which entitles then to oat a child fare (80p per journey) if they have the pass on them. If they forget their pass, even if in school uniform, they are likely to be charged full adult fare.

The funding for OAP bus passes doesn’t pay the cost of keeping buses going - well nor should it, it is a contribution to keeping the buses going, not the full funding source.

But around here the bus companies are going bust or doing their best to pull out of contracts on a lot of routes as soon as they can. Because for a lot of the timetable they have no paying passengers, they are not meeting their costs. If young people also get free transport, you may get more bus use, and even crowding which means the need to put on bigger buses - but the companies will not be earning anymore. More will go bust. I could see the only buses which are financially viable being the Park and Ride ones, where most people pay (and are subsidised).

Cheaper fares for all is fairer. As is more money put into transport in general, and allowing local authorities to subsidise buses more and to create new "essential routes".

In London there is high use of buses, and the fares (even if they seem expensive to you) are much more reasonable than in other places.

Squirm

That is welcome news.....but I still have to wait until I am 66.

It has been 66 for quite a while now.

Over 60's also get free tube travel, in London, as well?

To be fair, I am loving all these 'policies' coming out of the labour party - another nail in their coffin.