To think children should be free on buses the same as OAPs

[P3onyPenny]

Our bus company used to charge £7 for a 10 mile adult ticket and £1 each for children which wasn't too bad. The £1 child ticket has now been scrapped and I've just paid £18 for me and 3 dc to travel 10 miles. I think that is extortionate. The Park and Ride is always filled by office workers and city parking is extortionate. I don't always have access to a car. During the holidays the bus was always full with a variety of ages and several children. Now it only appears to be OAPs on it. We were literally the only non OAPs travelling,I presume due to the cost. We live in a fairly rural area,our library is rarely open( unlike the city one) and we don't have the city shops or many amenities such as cinema,sports centre,big shops etc.

We'll just organise ourselves so I can drive into town,pay the extortionate parking and add to the congestion. Other families not so fortunate won't be able to do this and to be honest environmentally I don't think it should be encouraged anyway.

My parents have a brand new car and are far better off than us. It just seems daft that they get bus transport free and kids who don't have any income don't.

AIBU to think oap bus passes should be means tested with the money saved funding a child bus pass scheme? At the very least just for the holidays or even £1 a ticket scheme like Stagecoach ran before.

They are free in London!

They don’t have to pay in London which is good but then I think they should stand up and give their seats to paying passengers. Not little kids but older ones / teenagers.

Move to London. It has always been free for under 5s to travel, then when Ken was Mayor if London he made it free for those 16 and under.

Btw I'm joking. Bus provision and services outside some large cities is a joke. I sometimes deliberately take London bus services partially funded by some of the Home Counties councils, and these councils are always trying to cut down or abolish the services. The people on the buses are mainly OAPs but there are frequently families and working age adults on them.

They are in London. The downside is kids taking the bus easily walkable distances and becoming more sedentary.

AIBU to think oap bus passes should be means tested with the money saved funding a child bus pass scheme?

Sounds fair. Now just get people to vote for it.

Where I live (not UK) buses are free for under 7's which is good, bloody annoying when trying to get a seat on a bus and a good amount are taken by non-paying kids though.

OP, was that £18 one-way or return?

I thought they were, I’m fairly sure they are in Manchester (but admittedly I haven’t been on a bus for a few years)

It's insane as rural areas will have more need due to further distances with less public services i.e. libraries. If London can do it,why can't they do it elsewhere?I nearly fell off the bus today,even the bus driver thought it was shit. Who would spend £18 just for a library visit?Our library has a shit selection of books and is rarely open. It's the non rich kids who miss out.

Yy to teens standing up,my 3 would happily do so.

It is in london which I hate but then I live near a secondary school so frequebtly miss them because they are so packed and children who would usually walk now dont. Its under 18s that are free not under 16s.

Where I live it’s free for under 5’s and half price for under 16’s.

It was one way,got a lift in. Stagecoach.

My mum is all for means tested pensioner benefits but the one she wouldn’t give up without a fight is her buss pass. I don’t think you can equate fit and healthy children who would not be house bound if they couldn’t afford the bus to elderly and infirm people who can easily become isolated.

But I agree children should be free (as in London) or at a very reduced rate.

The thing is.....who is paying? In my county, everyone over 65 is entitled to free bus travel. So is everyone who is refused a driving liscence due to disability. There are then other passes available to people with disabilities. Child bus tickets are cheaper. So who is paying the full whack for the price of fuel, rising minimum wages and pensions for staff etc?
I don’t disagree with you - the prices are insane. Maybe every pass should be means tested. There should be a child price for sure. What you have quoted sounds mad. Which bus company?
I totally get your point - my dad has a car and plenty of cash yet uses the bus to town because it’s free!

Must be half price as my ticket was always £7ish. It's too much though. £18 to buy school shoes! £1 a ticket ok or even just £1 a ticket in the hols. There were zero kids on the bus even though it's the hols, never used to be like that.

I used to catch the bus to town before the DCs reached 5 and half fares. Between car parking and petrol it worked out around the same cost and the DCs enjoyed the bus. Having to buy a family ticket means that the car is much better value.

Also the route is now shared by two companies that don't accept each other's tickets so if you get a family daysaver with company A, you then have to risk waiting extra to return with company A, potentially missing bus B going back to exactly the same place.

The first 4 posts on this thread! 😂😂😂

Forgot that nowhere existed outside of London!

What worries me is kids not accessing libraries and sports centres. My teens can't afford to go in on their own. It's normally £5 return unaccompanied. I can't afford to send them into town alone.We used to do the £1 accompanied thing to go to the library,go swimming etc.

We'll get a 2nd car( was on the cards) and suck up the parking. Not everybody can do that and it's not good for the environment anyway.Cheap secondhand bangers aren't normally clean electric cars.

I think you make an excellent point OP. We are Manchester and children under five are free, 5-16 year olds pay half fare. Stagecoach also do a family day ticket for £9 which covers five People.

The bus company is doing themselves a disservice by charging such a huge price. A bus with only OAP's on is not making any money but at least with affordable tickets they will make some money.
Most of our area is served by Stagecoach but there are some overlapping companies which make tickets and travel an expensive nightmare.

Children under 16 should be a half fare at least.

I'd much rather they got some independence and travelled on clean public transport to go to the library,swim,get a Sat job etc. Me( and everybody else who can afford it) driving dirt old cars in and out just to drop off and pick up is insane.

Surely some of the money gleaned from closing our local library for most of the week and not buying new books could have gone on something like this instead.

It’s free for under 5s where I live (not London)

Serbska they were half price I think. An adult is around £7/8,it was £18 for 1 adult and 3 kids to go 10 miles. That is too much.

What, they only get the half fare if accompanied? WTF?? An under-16is am under-16, regardless of whether mum is with them.

How ridiculous.

Themerry over 5s need to use libraries and sports centres,buy shoes too.

I live in Liverpool and it's free for under 5's and OAP's.

We have a universal ticket price which is £2.30 which you would have to get for one stop only or all the way into town ( about 6/7 miles from here ) which is ridiculous but there is a day ticket for £4.30 which is unlimited travel.

Under 18's get a "my ticket" which costs £2.30 for unlimited day travel.