To think free bus passes for the old should be abolished?

[Bumpitybumper]

Statistics show that on average wealth peaks at age 65-74 in the UK, why then do we give these people free bus passes? It makes absolutely no sense at all and is just an unnecessary expense. The idea that 'young' pensioners are a relatively poor group of people is completely incorrect and it only serves to enhance the already massive intergenerational wealth gap between baby boomers and everyone else.

@Bumpitybumper
Well another thread bashing 'Boomers' what a surprise.
Pensioners will be soon paying tax on the state pension as the tax threshold is frozen until 2028 and that could be extended for longer.
Tax threshold £12,570 until at least 2028.
State pension (new) £11,973 for 2025-26.
Pension credit rate £11,809 for 2025-6
By 2028 those on the new full state pension or pension credit will be paying income tax on their state pension, let alone any private/work pension or savings interest over £1000.

I've got a bus pass. We're definitely not wealthy OAPs. But we never use them because in our rural area buses don't go the the places we want to go to. And if they do, it takes half a day to get there, let alone get back.

And don't make assumptions that all us oldies are wealthy cruise-taking massive home owners.

Not all pensioners are like your wealthy parents.

It's certainly an anachronism when a sixth form pupil, should they be older in the year as I was, had to pay full fare when they reach 18. Or rather, their parents do. In some areas 16+ on buses.

So in the 7 financial year periods from 2018 to 2024 it cost an average of £136m for over 60s bus passes compared to the single financial year period 2023-2024 young people cost £198m. Sounds to me like a £198m per annum could be spent on education instead, using equivalence of spending on young people.

Money saved on transport would not be spent on ambulances. Even without over 60s bus passes your ambulance would still be as prompt. Maybe less so with more cars on the road.

So I think it a subtle nudge to adjust behavior that keeps elderly more active and healthier longer and slowly suggest to them as they age that perhaps they could give up the car and gets deteriating driver off the roads making them safer for everyone.

yes, my mum was driving around for a lot longer than i was comfortable with and it took me nearly a year of suggestion, trips on the bus/tram/train with her and so on to get her to give up her (lifeline) car. And it took nearly a year of her being without her car to come to terms with it and to tell people she knows that it is sad but it was a good decision she made (!)

AFAIK her bus pass is also time restricted (not before 9am) but is also time limited, runs out next year, i think, at which point she will have to self-select into the group that has a bus pass, or self-select out of it by not applying.

Other people i know in her age group are still driving, some dangerously so and i know one of her neighbours has been spoken to by the police several times due to driving too slowly (because he can't see or react properly).

Means testing is an expensive sledgehammer to crack a very small nut. As pp mentioned: you have to apply for a bus pass. For some who don't have a driving licence or passport, it is a useful form of voter ID (now we need to get other types of transport pass acknowledged as voter ID)

Perhaps it should be over 75s only as most drive until that age.

DH received his bus pass last year at the age of 66. It has encouraged him to take the bus from time to time rather than driving, which is surely better for the environment. I will not get mine until I am 67, but will make full use of it when I have it. I use the bus quite a bit already. I really don't like the ageism and sheer envy from some people on these threads. Most people of this age group were not born with silver spoons in their mouths, have worked hard all their lives and paid plenty of money into the system via taxes - in the seventies and early eighties these taxes were at eye-watering rates. Why shouldn't they reap back some of the money they paid during their working lives? If you doubt what I am saying, take a look at footage on YouTube of BBC Archives and programmes like World in action from the sixties to the nineties, and you will get a glimpse of how many, many people lived.

What a bitter spoilt brat you are OP I can't have it so you shouldn't either.
I am a pensioner, I own my own house, it is a two bedroom property, its in greater London, I cannot downsize, a one bedroom flat comes with a service charge so I would be no better off.

I drive a 15 year old car, but use my pass for the trains it saves me money. My partner does not drive and the money he saves is very helpful to our household budget.

I worked until 66 paid taxes and NI so yes I appreciate my bus pass. You sound pathetic, jealous and childish, you are also goady and ageist.

@Pippa12 that is a very good point!

And lots don't.

Christ another assumptive ageist poster

The people who are driving at that age will continue to drive. They aren't going to suddenly stop just because they can save a few pounds of petrol for the inconvienience of getting a bus to the shops.

The people who would benefit from having a bus pass can apply for one and use it.

Everyone wins.

Do pensioners stop using public services when they retire?

I'm not pensioner bashing, I'm bashing the assumption that older people regardless of income get so much of the welfare pot without question when younger people are really struggling for the basics.

Does he actually have a bus pass and use it though? If not, what's the issue exactly?

Good idea.

In London you can get free travel from the age of 60. That includes tubes and trains. I work with people who are much older than this and have this perk. Some of my coworkers are in their 70s. Only thing is, it's only valid after 9am on weekdays so they have to pay to get to work, but not to get home again.

My parents are doing alright and get a free bus pass each. Again, they can't use is until after 9am. But the bus service only runs hourly and stops at 6pm. The first bus after the restrictions lift is very, very busy. The council & bus company threatened to take the service away as it wasn't making money to cover costs. Make if that what you will.

And a lot of people posting here will be working all their lives until they drop and not have any retirement to look forward to.

Only about a quarter of generation X have a decent pension.

@Bumpitybumper I would appreciate an answer to my questions about your "robust statistics". What percentage of the demographic you are focused on are wealthy? And what constitutes wealth?

Given I think most people believe that free buses passes should at least be available to older people on a means-tested basis, the true "cost" of bus passes is really only:

-those journeys that are made by people who wouldn't be eligible on means tested basis (e.g. don't receive pension credit for example)

and

-journeys that people would otherwise have paid for out their own pocket.

People deciding to go into town on a whim just because they can isn't really costing anyone anything, in fact it's probably a net economic benefit because they're probably propping up local shops and services.

If they have two cars and both drive, how much do they actually use their bus passes? How much, realistically, do their bus passes cost the state?

Effectively, the OA bus pass IS means tested - rich people don't bother to apply for them, either driving themselves or using taxis.

I am all for discussing free bus passes for the young. I have 2 YA kids. It's hard for them as jobs pay so little.
But you can't achieve that by taking them away from the elderly.

Of course not, but the amount they have paid in via their taxes all their working lives more than makes up for it. Also, why are you so against people who have worked hard all their lives, brought up a family and, possibly looked after older relatives - quite likely still doing so - having some rewards? In the younger retiree bracket, most people left school at sixteen and went straight to work. In the older group, the school leaving age was sixteen. Only around 5-10% studied for a degree.

I haven't applied for my bus pass yet but I will do so soon. It is a form of ID and it seems pointless to renew my passport as I haven't travelled abroad for over 20 years so I don't really need it.

I may use it, I may not. It really depends on how my driving capability continues.