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.

My daughter is starting 6th form in September, her college is 25 miles away, so no way of walking or cycling, both me and her father work in opposite direction. I have to pay 70.00 per month for her bus pass. But she can’t use the bus pass on any other bus. She has to stay in school until she’s 18, surely if there is no choice then children shouldn’t have to pay.

TheSultanofPingu why don't people actually read other replies before making statements I actually set out exactly why it cant be limited to pensioners on PC, so I will repeat myself A single pensioner on pension credit gets their income topped up to £163 a week, a single pensioner on the new state pension where they have paid in for 35 years will get the basic pension of £164.34 that's £1.34 a week more than someone who hasn't paid in as long, its it fair that someone who only gets £1.34 more a week should have to pay even a £1 a ticket no its bloody NOT

Well I'm bristol fairly big city

Predominantly first bus
They scrapped singles

Adult 3 stop hop £1For half a mile
Short distance upto 3miles £single
Over that £3 each way.

Kids is 50% off that

City centre is 6miles

Its always better value get day rider

Adult 4.50
Child 2.30
Family 9pounds a day great if you out all day long distance but extorniate if I just want to take me and 3 kids down the road.

Eldest goes senior school near city centre so have her bus to pay.

I try walk as much as i can and onky take bus long journeys infrequently.

Bus always full old people.

Weirdly 2 outer bristol towns short distance are outer zone so cost more.

Keynsham/yate costs more than city centre.

We have hardly any train station our side bristol.

Think bristol 2nd worst congested city outside of London.

We have magic new metro bus that stops no where near people's houses with limited routes.

Only 5 and under travel for free.

Does seem unfair other cities get better deal .

Bristol is an expensive city as is bath and first bus have the monopoly.

Used live newport/ Cardiff where the actual council ran the buses bit hot sure what costs are these days.

But perfectly reasonable Olds for both set of pensioners to pay a £1.

I did read the replies Oldsu and I made a suggestion not a statement.

And I think a £1 flat rate day ticket would be a perfectly reasonable compromise.

Never thought about it before but OP I agree with you. Sadly as pp have said, no political party wants to cut anything from pensioners as they all want the reliable grey vote.

TheSultanofPingu then why make that stupid suggestion when I and another person had already told you how much a pensioner on PC gets as apposed to the new state pension.

No I don't think its reasonable at all for disabled pensioners to pay anything unless disabled working age people also have to pay the same and no-one wants disabled people to lose out on their passes do they?

My 84 year old mother lives on the south coast and has never driven. She tries to get out and about as much as she can and we encourage her as much as she is still able. Her free bus pass is a life line to her. She has many different friends she meets on the buses and it's a social opportunity for her. But when I visit on my own I think the bus fares are extortionate. When we visit as a family we use the car so I had no idea children were charged so much.

My mum is terrified that bus passed will be withdrawn and it would seriously impact her quality of life. However, I know a lot of elderly who don't use their bus passes at all. A friends snooty FIL used it once when he got it and declared he will never sit with the great unwashed again. For 10 years he has had a bus pass 'because I paid in why shouldn't I' . My mum's next door neighbour never uses his either but has in case in the car has to go in. My mum's friend lives more than half the year in Spain and she still gets one.

I get that it would be too expensive to means test it. But as all the bus passes have to be scanned it couldn't be too difficult to discover who gets the most usage. If you are not using more than x times per month or year then you should pay a fee. Perhaps the free bus age should be pushed up to 65 and the savings pushed through to the other end for family and kids tickets.

The free bus pass age is 65 and is going up to 66. Light usage doesn't necessarily mean the person has a car. Some rural buses only run once or twice a week.

where i live it’s free travel for under 5’s. my son was 5 until he was 10 😂 now his bus fare is only around 60p cheaper than mine! they have offers on for cheaper family tickets, but only during the school holidays.

Buses can be horribly expensive. I live "rurally" but it's not scenic. I live here because the housing is cheaper. We have one bus company that never seem to run on time and always costs a lot.

A few months ago I needed to travel to a nearby town which is a 15 min drive maybe 25 by bus. I needed to be there at 10 on a Saturday morning.

There were no direct buses at that time so I had to pay to travel 20 mins in the opposite direction to get a bus back the other way but it took a slightly different route and didn't pass through my town.

I had the option of paying for single tickets each leg and getting a quicker bus back home or getting the slightly cheaper option of returns and taking the same convoluted route back. I did it the cheaper way but it cost me £10 to go what should have been a 20/25 min journey.

I don't know what the answer is but public transport is shocking at least where I am. I'm learning to drive and I will be able to drive to work for less than public transport costs. I'm £150 a month for trains that don't run, the environment won't thank me but my bank balance will.

Why are buses free in London for children? - because its the only place that still runs a publicly owned transport system, although the actual service is run under tender from private companies. Support for TfL is very high with London voters.

Buses were privatised by Thatcher in 1986 everywhere, expect London as she feared the backlash. There was a popular quote doing the rounds at the time:

A man who, beyond the age of 26, finds himself on a bus can count himself as a failure.

It was attributed to her, but there is no proof of that, but it certainly captured the mood in parts of her party.

The outcome was predictable and during the resulting 'bus wars', private companies battled it out on popular routes, dropping fares and literally racing each other to stops to pick up passengers.
Once competition had been driven to bankruptcy, a monopoly resulted, with no 'market forces' to keep fares down and to run unpopular routes.
We now have a situation where £millions are taken out of public transport as profit and dividends, whilst still being subsidised by local councils. Due to cut-backs, that subsidy is reducing, resulting in higher fares and few services.
Like the railways, if we want a proper 'service', that answers to it's passengers rather than a board of directors, the obvious answer is to bring them back under public control - like they do in most civilised countries.
In some cases, Councils are trying to effectively do this, Manchester being a good example - but passengers still have the problem of non-transferable tickets so journeys are more expensive if they involve a change of route and provider.

Change the word ‘free’ to ‘paid for by the taxpayer’ and re-read all of your posts. It may put a different perspective on it. Bus passes for the over 65’s have been earned by the majority contributing taxes over their lifetime, most of them who still do. Especially the wealthy ones with their fancy cars as you keep pointing out. If every pensioner who has a bus pass actually used it the local councils would be on their knees.

You are even against a £1 flat rate day ticket for oap's Oldsu, so whatever I say will not go down well with you!

It cost the op close to twenty pounds to travel by bus with her children to the nearest town.
That is extortionate. Children don't have an income, yet often pay 2/3 adult fare. Low income families who rely on buses will be really struggling with that!

I've been reading around. Apparently the conssessionary scheme costs the gov £1.17 billion. who give grants( not the full amount) to local councils( don't think they get the same and it's very hazy finding out how it differs) who have to make the shortfall. Councils are struggling to fund it, routes are being cut and it has an impact on other services OAPs use such as bin collection. I'll wager that the reason the £1 for children was cut was due to said council and bus company trying to save money.

So the tax payer is paying £1.17 billion to run half empty buses with only those in receipt of a free pass able to use them in areas that really need them. It's bonkers. Families,kids and teens are being priced off the buses.

Surely a flat £1 for OAPs and kids is better. It is affordable. It would surely be better for OAPs as there would be more money for local services and routes.

I think all 'free' passes should be means tested, including those for children if they were to be brought in. I hold the same view about free prescriptions in England.

As mentioned it's free in London. It's a PITA sometimes as buses are often mobile youth clubs, with kids going like 2 stops so they're getting zero exercise.

16 year old dd is not entitled to a reduced bus fare to get to new sixth form. Just found out it's £25 a week. £750 a year, I reckon.

That would price some families out of going to certain schools. As it is we will have to cut back a bit. (Ds gets reduced train fare to different school).

Are you aware of all the cuts to local government finances? You must be, surely no one could miss them. Where do you suggest the council finds the money to fund free travel for children? Most can't provide adequate social care for those in desperate need, should bus passes be a priority?

Quite.

This is a political decision. Bus services were deregulated back in the 80s or early 90s. Councils generally recognised the need for public transport and carried on subsidising rural services as long as possible, now they're having to throw all their money at adult social care because of cuts and there's very little left for "luxuries" like libraries and public transport.

Bear this in mind next time we have an election.

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.

Yes it is, central government pays the local council who provide the bus pass and pay the local companies.

OP

What services would you like to see scrapped for subsidised bus travel for teens?

Maybe write to stagecoach and tell them they are loosing money.

Well I so think its odd we means test child benefit as is there not more oaps than children.

I thourght it was link sum given to bus companies so regardless how many oaps get on the tax payers money sometimes funds a nearby empty bus.

Lots old people use buses to socialose/ sometimes go shopping but its more days out as I often chat to a few.

I think its wrong children are expected stay in full time education ie 6th form college but have bus fare.

I pay for eldest go on bus to a good school so wear the cost but it is a lot of money on top of school dinners and uniform secondary school can be massive expense.

This summer told kids we try stay local and places we can walk and do may be 1 far away bus trip a week as it's £9 for family day rider.

It rained the other day we went to high street less than 2miles me and 2 kids get 4bus stops was £4.

Councils don't get the full amount they have to make up the short fall. That is causing cuts to services.

If every OAP and child paid £1 and the scheme was scrapped councils wouldn't need to scrabble around for such an expensive scheme. More fare paying families would use the bus,they'd make more money and thus open up more routes. Win,win for everybody.

I work for a huge bus operator. Bus companies get a percentage of the full fare every time a pensioner pass is used. As the number of people turning 60 increased ( it’s 60 you get free travel in Scotland ) the percentage of the fare given to the operators was cut. Bus companies then raise fares to compensate. As long as the percentage keeps being cut, the cost of fares will increase proportionately. Transport Scotland told me this while doing their surveys of pensioner bus travel. They also said 90% of free bus pass journeys are 2 stops or less. When people get a free pass, they take the piss basically. Why walk 20 yards when you’re entitled to be driven it? Fares will keep going up. Also bus drivers aren’t poorly paid as it’s a skilled job. The health and criminal records requirements alone lower the number of people who can do the job. Drug testing, alcohol testing, shift patterns and license required ( and E.U card ) add up to a job few can/will do. Most drivers are earning double the minimum wage per hour. Expensive wage bill. Plus people enjoy suing bus companies for minor things as well as justified major things. It’s just not possible for fares to be cheap and private companies to still make enough profits for the business to be worth running. Crazy situation all round. Nationalisation would solve a lot of it.

So, OP wants pensioners to be means tested to see if they should be eligible for free bus travel, but doesn't think families should be means tested for free child bus travel.

Not quite sure I see the logic there...