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.

@meadowmeow most drivers where I work. I can’t speak for every company in the country. It’s not bollocks it’s my experience. I’m struggling to understand why you’re so angry about our wage, tbh. The rage from you is disproportionate to my post 🤯 I was generalising why our fares are higher here, in Scotland, in my company, in my area. In future I’ll spend longer giving more detailed posts. I don’t think I deserved the swearing at me. We fought and our main depot went weeks without pay striking to get that deal for us, it was hard earned! And heart breaking when our lower paid juniors broke the picket line when it was their future wage once they pass probation period we were out for.

If OAPs and kids paid a flat £1 councils wouldn't be topping up the scheme.So nobody would fund kids actually being able to use buses on a regular basis. The only people on the bus we travelled on other than us were OAPs. We were the only people who paid. If they had all paid a £1 and I had paid full adult and 3x£1 child the bus would have made more money.That was one part of one trip on one bus.

@P3onyPenny I’d recommend buying the downloaded ticket on a smart phone. It’s usually cheaper.
I won’t say by how much in case it’s different anywhere else. Learning from experience 😂 but it does work out cheaper. Big companies have deals on their website at times too. Worth having a look before getting the bus to see if you can save.

most drivers where I work. I can’t speak for every company in the country.

You should have specified that then. As it was written in amongst a huge post of which no other part was specific to your company.

The rage from you is disproportionate to my post

Rage?

Where we are its technically only free for under 5's but have never been charged for DD who is 6 and very tall.
Some places do family/group tickets that might work out cheaper too.

don’t think I deserved the swearing at me.

I said it was bollocks that most bus drivers are earning double the minimum wage. It is bollocks.

I wasn't swearing AT you.

I grew up in Brighton (my parents are still there). My understanding is that the bus companies are struggling to meet their costs because of free travel for pensioners. Partly because they don’t get full whack whenever someone with a free bus pass gets on (they get a percentage of the fare from the council) and partly because the buses are so full of old people, the young people can’t get on them to get home after work.

YANBU. More needs to be done to encourage families to leave their cars at home and use public transport, but it's difficult if you don't have a car and have to spend so much just to go a few miles.

Our county has a bus pass for 11-20 year olds which allows them to pay £1.30 per journey, as long as the journey begins or ends in the county that's all that they pay and it's saved a fortune with our son travelling to college. Without the pass it'd be £7.50 a day compared to £2.60 with it.

🤔 I will be more exact in future 😂 I shall draft every post carefully instead of posting while getting dd ready for school.

Thanks for the tip Freddie. Will look but will need to be a big saving and flexible,tbh I think I'm done with buses when travelling with kids.Will be much cheaper to buy more online,try to travel less into the city centre and combine errands into one monthly trip. If we do need to go in for hospital or other necessities I'll drive as the parking fees I thought were extortionate are way cheaper. Clearly going by the bus at a peak time of year containing so few fee paying passengers we aren't alone.

Sorry you clobbered such vitriol for just sharing info,I'm not sure why it was needed either. It's interesting to hear it from the side of the bus company. It was funny as the bus driver who was lovely was trying every which way to get me a cheaper price. I didn't get why until he told me the price.

Dungeon it's not reducing cars it's increasing cars. Councils and bus companies struggle to top up the grant they get( they don't get the full amount) companies put up prices and those people priced out use cars. It's a vicious circle.

I didn't mean that it would reduce the number of cars overall (it probably does where I live but I'm sure it depends on the area) but that it would reduce the number of OAPs driving cars. I don't know about you but I prefer it if the very elderly stay off the road.

Sorry you clobbered such vitriol for just sharing info,I'm not sure why it was needed either.

Oh fgs 'vitriol' for pointing out some of the info wasn't actually true county wide

Aren't teenage boys the most likely to have accidents hence the extortionate cost of insuring them. My parents and inlaws are in their 70s and 80s and driving better than any people a fraction of their age with my dad driving miles in France a couple of times a year.Bit ageist to right them off the minute they collect their pension.

Its 80p (or £2.20 for a day pass) a bus journey here (Sheffield) for under 16s, with a bus pass (free) and for under 18s in education (again with a free bus pass).

Under 5s are free.

If they are 11 or above they must be carrying their bus pass - no pass and they have to pay an adult fare, even if they are clearly a child.

@P3onyPenny sorry it’s not much help, think it’s more beneficial to regular users. I’m off for now as the postman just delivered dds new mobile and I need to find a micro usb holder ( one here somewhere ) to make her bloody SIM card fit 🤬
🙋‍♀️

during the summer holidays here stagecoach does a child for 10p when an adult buys a goldrider so they can take up to 5 children.

Travelling by bus is expensive now.Getting a cab with the kids is cheaper.Do that.

NutElla5x

That's what we do for nights out, etc. Cab for 3 is cheaper than bus for 3 adults.

Bit ageist to right them off the minute they collect their pension.

I'm not "writing them off" or saying that they shouldn't drive (without appropriate medical checks but without a doubt many people in their 80s and perhaps even late 70s should not be on the road and I think it is good that they are discouraged with free bus passes. My parents and my neighbours (in the 70s and 80s) agree.

When he was Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg was very keen on trying to get free travel for children on public transport. It was a major policy of the Lib Dems who everyone punished like mad for going into coalition with the Tories.

I think children with disabilities should travel free but that's just my opinion (and I know I'll be shot down for having that opinion).
That said, I'm always honest about my son's age. He's seven (under 5's travel free) despite being the size of a 4 year old and being in a pushchair. I'd never take advantage.

Agree,shocked they aren't'.

How would a £1 fee encourage car use? Petrol and parking fees cost way more than that.

It's interesting. Grandparents are increasingly caring for children. Used to see loads of kids with their grandparents on the bus. Didn't see one this time. Expensive child fees must force grandparents into using cars too.

OP Here is the link to the actual report I mentioned, in case you couldn't be arsed to look for it yourself

greenerjourneys.com/blog/volunteering-bus-pass-helping-people-help-others/

Actually I did look and couldn’t find it as it didn’t seem to be reported anywhere else. Not sure what need there is for aggression towards me too.

Anyhow it’s derply flawed and all based on outdated estimations. For one it states “it is important that it is properly funded and that operators are properly reimbursed under the principle that they are ‘no better and no worse off as a result of the scheme.” That clearly isn’t happening for s start.

It states it enhances bus service frequencies- err no they’re being restricted as councils struggle to top up grants given by gov and put up fares which price out others and then reduce revenue.

“Associated highway decongestion benefits”- don’t think so.others, particularly families are forced into using taxis and cars as seen on this thread.

The scheme aims for social inclusion, only oaps seem to frequent buses in our area

“To realise the benefits.....It is important that it is properly funded” it isn’t

Routes are being cut so actually there is less and less use for those able to use buses.......

I could go on. It was just an estimation not a scientific study and frankly a £1 fee would actually be far more beneficial and more likely to actually bring about many of the supposed benefits.

Before free bus travel for the over 60s came into force they used to pay half fare, so did children. I don't think it's a coincidence that (in some areas) children's fares have risen by around 25%.
The government are leaving the bus companies with a shortfall and unfortunately it is being passed on to fare paying passengers.
Of course this isn't the fault of the over 60s, it's the fault of the government, but we are seeing the consequences and it isn't pleasant.