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.

Definitely should be means tested in some way. Far too many people using free bus passes for a jolly when they could easily afford to pay. Or at least limit them to local journeys of less than x miles. We've a neighbour who takes great delight in finding the furthest bus journeys he can take just because he can - it's a bit of a hobby for him.

OP have you not paused to think for a minute before you post all this nonsense?

Do you really think 'wealthy pensioners' are going to use the bus in the first place?

If they are wealthy they will use a taxi or their own car to go around.

Bus services are not reliable or frequent outside the big cities.

You just sound like the type of person who is just looking someone to blame (the old, the disabled, immigrants...) rather than ask yourself what you can do to improve your own life and get on with it.

I'm really curious about this idea that wealthy people don't use the bus. Is this an area specific thing? Where I'm from the bus isn't only used because it's cheaper, but often because it's easier (eg no need for city centre parking) and sometimes faster (bus lanes, although this is really rush hour transport). What I've seen with my mum (and she's one example so she's by no means all pensioners) is that she's now very time rich which means she doesn't mind if the bus takes longer. The stop is 5 mins from her house and the bus goes to the two major cities. It's not that she doesn't/can't drive but that she doesn't see the bus as inherently a thing for poor people (neither do I).

I sometimes take the bus and I've even done it when driving would be cheaper because it means not fighting through traffic. It's only sometimes because I'm rarely going to the location the bus route near me goes to.

Only tax on the excess between the amount received and the personal allowance so just a few pounds per year for most.

For those with low incomes, there's not just the first £1k of interest tax free, there's also the £5k personal savings allowance. So someone with pension of £12.5k and interest of £6k still won't pay any income tax.

I'm afraid the sums don't add up. Most older people end up costing the state a lot more than they paid in with so many living a long time but unhealthily, with long term medical conditions, and working people are paying for it now, it's not saved into a pot for someone to access later. And there are not enough people working to pay for it now or in the future.

I know plenty of "wealthy" pensioners with cars or use taxis but still use their bus passes just for the sake of using them, i.e. a day out when they're bored that saves them the cost of fuel etc.

‘These people’ ?

Safer to have them on buses than driving. My brother is a paramedic and the last 2 RTA attendances have been elderly drivers that lost control / consciousness

The OP, and others on here like her, are absolute Mare's (as in Nightmares)

I'm disabled and my bus pass is the only 'benefit' I claim. Without it I wouldn't be able to go shopping or, yes, the occasional 'jolly'. I can't drive and DH doesn't drive so it's my only independence. I'd be absolutely screwed without it.

I imagine a lot of older people feel the same about their passes.

But surely this is better for the planet? A bus that is going there anyway and a car not being used?

OK then, let them swap their driving licence for a free bus pass. Happy days for all!

My FIL has a small fortune in the bank (mostly inheritance from his mother), mortgage paid off since the 80s, hasn't worked for 20 years after taking early retirement 9 months after he was made redundant, holidays in Europe 3 x per year - regularly boasts about his free bus journeys to Edinburgh among other destinations.

Absolute disgrace that our taxes pay for pensioners to have free fucking bus travel whilst families and everyone else struggles with the cost of living.

The free bus pass keeps lots of cars off the road. In addition, it improves the health of pensioners by encouraging them to be active. Saving NHS money. It helps stimulate the economy by the spending power that the pensioners use when they are out.

Speaking as a young person who is at the peak of building their life. Everything that you do now is going to be the output of what you end up with later. Things are hard now as you are building your assets and paying in to services you will later be excused from contributing in to, based on your contribution throughout your life. The rubbish truth is that those who are young and struggling now, will likely be old and struggling later. Those deserve to have exemptions made for them. Equally those who are struggling now as they are getting all their aces in places for when they do retire, should also be entitled to an exemption based on their long term contribution to society.

What about the cost to the taxpayer? The bus company aren't doing it for free. They're claiming the cost of the fare from the government and ultimately the taxpayer. That's the crux. Why should taxpayers fund the bus journeys of people who can afford to pay themselves? Especially at the moment with the cheap bus fares, i.e. previously just £2 and recently increased to £3. It's not like pensioners are having to pay a tenner or twenty quid for a bus ride. I think that when the heavily subsidised £2 fare came in (subsidised by taxpayers) then the free bus passes should have been means tested.

Utter rubbish.
Why don't you speak to your 'millionaires' PIL and tell them they are selfish instead of condemning every pensioner re: income and bus passes- 99% of whom are not like your PIL ? When you inherit some of their millions, you won't be complaining.

Yes we do queue up for our free bus passes. I got mine at local library aged 60. We can't take our car into our city centre as it's a year too old but I love my bus pass. Young people up to 22 get free travel in Scotland which I'm in favour of to a certain extent but the buses are becoming really antisocial as groups of teenagers spend all Friday afternoon and weekends in big groups on the buses causing a lot of problems.

Another extremely sensible post.

If a person who is not on the breadline applies for a free bus pass and makes no use of it, or uses it once a year, how is that a problem? They will be paying income tax and council tax, after all. And as stated over and over again, a great many over 60s don't apply at all because the public transport in their area is so poor. So it's a theoretical perk that actually doesn't get used because it's of no worth.

In London you pay an annual admin fee to renew the 60+ Oyster card, which seems fair enough to me. We also have free travel on public transport for all under 18s, discounted travel for students and free travel for people with certain disabilities. I don't know if all of those groups have to pay an admin fee too.

It’s about bigger picture - moving older people to public transport reduces people driving who aren’t really safe and it encourages them to go out. Loneliness is a big killer and a drain on the nhs. Abolishing bus passes would have unintended consequences far wider.

@jellyfishperiwinkle, I was born in December, 1964, so am at the crossover of the boomers and generation X. I think these generational groups are slightly skewed because the life experience of the post war boomers (1945-52) is very different from that of the youngest boomers, born in the sixties. Similarly, the sixties born generation X have far more in common with the youngest boomers than later generation X. I still stand by my first comment and am finding that you are both ageist and envious. Each generation has its own privileges and weaknesses, but it is simply not true to think that everyone born between 1945 and 1970, say, was born with a silver spoon in their mouths and have lived a gilded life ever since.

99% of pensioners are not your FIL.

@gesturecritic where I am buses are pretty much only used by schoolchildren and low income adults. There is only one an hour (every two hours over late morning/early afternoon) and they stop early evening so anyone who can afford it will more likely drive or take the train to go wherever they need to go. Elderly people also have the option of the dial-a-ride service.

In London all under 18s get free bus travel - plenty of them will come from wealthy families and obviously public transport use is very high in London.

So why just complain about the taxpayer subsiding free travel for seniors? Surely children shouldn’t get it either.

I find it hard to understand the absolute vitriol aimed at pensioners. I am a 'baby boomer' - I own a small semi and have a state pension and a part of my late husband's private pension. That is it. No huge sums in the bank, no car, no other benefits.
OP, why so nasty?