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.

In Scotland young people age 5-21 get a free bus pass too.

I do a long commute into a big city and it drives me nuts when half the peak time buses going home are filled with (clearly well off) pensioners laden with shopping bags (not groceries either).

I agree with means testing it or at least having times that free passes can't be used ie peak times. My bus is always rammed and people have to wait for the next one. I get there early enough it's never happened to me but I feel so sorry for the passengers who get turned away and are just wanting to get home after a long day at work.

You keep going on about pensioners being the wealthiest demographic but what about the nearly 3 million that live below the poverty line who would probably become prisoners in their own home without access to free travel?

Not every pensioner is well off, millions live in poverty and there are thousands of excess deaths in the elderly every year directly related to them being unable to adequately heat their homes, never mind pay for bus fares. The state pension is about £11500 a year and millions of pensioners do not have any other source of income.

Out of curiosity, do you also get as worked up about those with a household income of up to 120,000 getting unpenalised child benefit?

If you have youth on your side, could you cycle?

It is a forward thinking city or nation that offers free public transport, long may it continue.

So because your bus route is popular and would still be running (although you claim it was full of pensioners so that's debateable) no bus route should be subsidised?

And one of the worst things about using pension credit as a form of means testing is the fact that it's a golden ticket means you will be hitting people who are actually worse off.

Finally and for the millionth time MEANS TESTING WOULD COST MORE THAN iT SAVED!

@Iwantmyoldnameback means testing would cost more than it saved.
This. I don't think people understand the admin costs involved.

This FFS.
why is no one paying attention to this.

Ultimately this policy helps older people who may not be able to walk/ cycle/ drive to get around.

If you have a problem with this give your head an f’ing wobble.

They clearly don’t. They’re too busy being jealous of granny’s bus pass of all things.

The justification would once have been that when they’re retired, people are poorer than the majority of the working population. For many retired people, that is simply not the case and hasn’t been for a while.

But - I suspect that abolishing or means testing it will simply lead to empty buses and then closed routes or significantly reduced services, so it’s not the same as saying means test the TV licence or winter fuel payment.

I haven’t seen a single person back up the claim that means testing the buss pass would cost more. It’s an easy sound bite thrown around and no facts are ever provided.
The winter fuel allowance is already essentially means tested, it would be administratively simple to link the buss pass to that.

Very short sight the funding from these free passes make the bus service more viable

lose the funding and the cost will be pass on in fare rise to the rest of us

the mentally of begrudging people anything is depressing

Those suggesting free bus passes should be means tested - how do you think the means testing of child benefit (a universal benefit up until a few years ago) went? Seemed a bit of a mess to me and left financial abused women and children in a bit of a hole.

By that logic the cost could go in to investing in and subsidising the service for everyone rather than one group, many of which could afford it on their own.

Why should someone taking home a higher pension income have free travel while someone who commutes to their minimum wage job pays the full amount? There is no justification for a pensioner over a certain income threshold to have free travel at the expense of others.

It’s an easy sound bite because it’s almost always true. People like means tested benefits for political reasons - because people are petty. Thats all. They are not economically rational; they are extremely costly to administer and they create arbitrary injustices.

“Means-testing, on the other hand, would be "enormously expensive", "negate the benefits of the pass" and costly for local authorities and the Government to administer.127]”

I would hardly say a few years ago, it’s been well over 2 decades since child benefit was universal.
I would say the majority of people agree with the concept that it should be means tested.
I don’t see anyone calling for a return to it being universal.

It really is. We're at the stage where people want to target pensioners on a bus pass.

So petty. Labour seem to be promoting it

👆🏻

I don’t see anyone calling for a return to it being universal

Really? You are obviously not paying attention then. UNICEF is, for one, to tackle child poverty.

Incredible pettiness. I say this as someone who takes a crowded bus nearly everyday. The older people on my bus struggling with their groceries don't look like millionaires to me. But maybe they are Howard Hughes!

Oh, and if they take up the seats, my DC and I can bloody well stand. We are fit enough.

I know this sounds pious, but I am from another culture, so forgive me my trespasses: A society that demonises the elderly is not a society worth having.

Over 2 decades? 2013 is when it changed from being universal.

I know - I live here. Not sure what your point is?

60 is not old. We don’t all need help getting out to avoid depression - lots of working people are getting free travel they could easily pay for!

Scotland also gives free bus travel to everyone under the age of 25

It's actually under 22, not 25.

Splendid.

do you think it should also be banned for the under 25s?