1st April 2008 - Free Local bus pass extension

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From 1st April, Pensioner's free bus passes will be available on local services throughout the country, no matter ehere they're issued.   In other words, a pensioner from Hull will be able to travel by bus around Wiltshire, and a pensioner from Wiltshire will be able to travel around Hull by bus.   In each case, the fare will actually be paid by the transport authority in the area where the journey is made.  So in my example, the Hull pensioner will be paid for by the Wiltshire taxpayer and the Wiltshire pensioner by the Hull taxpayer.

It all seems very fair, doesn't it?    Well - it does until you realise that areas such as Wiltshire, with a significant tourist industry (71 million pounds last year) are going to attract a lot more people from Hull that Hull is going to attract from Wiltshire!   So on balance the Wiltshire taxpayer will pick up a far higher bill that the money to be spent on bus journeys for his/her pensioners.

Here's a suggestion of how to save some of that money for the Wiltshire taxpayer and improve public transport in the county at the same time ...
















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If you provide a fast, regular train service across the county from North to South, the more affluent pensioners will use it in place of the bus.   I was shocked to see get Transport Direct timings of 150 minutes from Chippenham to Salisbury by bus when I checked up the other day, as opposed to about 60 minutes by the direct train.  The problem is it runs at present at 06:34. And at 19:01. And not in between.

[devon_metro]

Quite simply going to cripple Torbay who already pay the highest rates for beach cleaning and other tourist associated problems.

[Lee]

A pensioner's leader has accused Oxford City Council of incompetence after learning hundreds of its members had not received passes (link below.)
http://www.oxfordmail.net/news/headlines/display.var.2160270.0.bus_pass_delay_incompetence.php

Bill Jupp, the Oxford branch secretary of the Transport and General Workers Retired Members Association, said it was not good enough that about half its members had not yet received the passes which entitle over-60s to free off-peak bus journeys.

The council says it has sent out more than 96 per cent of 18,000 bus passes, but Mr Jupp says it should have happened sooner, as the scheme was first announced by the Government in November 2006.

The city council said almost all its passes had been sent out, bar a few exceptions, but carers would still have to wait some weeks to receive their passes.

The Vale of White Horse District Council said 15,456 passes were sent out second class on Thursday, with 1,076 to be sent tomorrow.

South Oxfordshire District Council said it had issued 12,400 new passes, but due to printing problems about eight per cent (992 cards) had been delayed. Cherwell and West Oxfordshire district councils were unable to give figures.

Shey Cobley, Oxford City Council spokesman, said:

"All councils have had to overcome a number of implementation problems in order to issue the new national bus passes. Oxford City Council has been more successful than some."

BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) article link on the bus pass extension.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7323688.stm

Gloucestershire Echo article link.
http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=231771&command=displayContent&sourceNode=231774&contentPK=20283822&folderPk=108867&pNodeId=231888

DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) Press Release (link below.)
http://nds.coi.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=364047&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=False

[Lee]

Mary Lacey of the Plymouth Senior Citizens' Forum says the passes will not be widely used in the city (link below.)
http://thisisplymouth.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=133464&command=displayContent&sourceNode=133158&contentPK=20291953&folderPk=78031&pNodeId=133174

"We met local bus operators in Plymouth last month to raise our concerns," said the 69-year-old from Devonport.

"Most people don't even bother with buses because, put simply, they can't get to the stops.

"The stops are either too far away from their homes or they're up hills. The elderly and disabled find it too difficult to get to bus stops. We need more, better-placed stops and will continue discussions with the operators."

Meanwhile :

On April 1, 60-year-old Roger Jenking is travelling from Oxford to Crewe - solely using local buses (link below.)
http://www.oxfordmail.net/news/headlines/display.var.2096701.0.60yearold_to_test_out_new_bus_scheme.php

He has decided to test a national concessionary local bus scheme which starts that day.

Mr Jenking plans to catch the 9am bus from Oxford to Chipping Norton.

From there he will catch the 10.02am service to Stratford, before hopping on the 11.45am to Birmingham.

From Birmingham he catches the 1.30pm to Wolverhampton, then the 3.46pm for Stafford, where he hopes to catch the 5pm to Stoke.

The final leg of his journey will see him taking a 6.34pm service to Crewe, which arrives at 7.25pm.

If Mr Jenking was paying for the trip, it would cost ^21.

The only direct National Express coach from Oxford to Crewe on that day leaves at 1.55pm and arrives at 6.20pm. A one-way fare costs ^24.

Mr Jenking plans to travel back by train.

Mr Jenking has hailed the bus pass experiment a success, after using his new card to travel to Crewe (link below.)
http://www.oxfordmail.net/display.var.2163677.0.pensioner_travels_100_miles_for_free.php

Problems in Devon & Cornwall (link below.)
http://thisiscornwall.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=144125&command=displayContent&sourceNode=232510&home=yes&more_nodeId1=232470&contentPK=20294214

And also in Bath (link below.)
http://thisisbath.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=163490&command=displayContent&sourceNode=163316&contentPK=20303146&folderPk=89126&pNodeId=163047

[Lee]

A pair of back-packing pensioners who have embarked on a 700-mile bus journey using only their free travel passes will make their way through Tiverton and Exeter today (link below.)
http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=146238&command=displayContent&sourceNode=146064&contentPK=20350664&folderPk=100268&pNodeId=145795

"The idea just emerged. We like going on buses and we wondered whether it would be possible to travel from Berwick to Land's End for nothing. Then we just decided to try it out.

"But it has been difficult in some areas to find a bus, its very difficult to find a good bus where there is a good rail link. The thing with buses is that they are not cancelled in the same way as trains, so we are hoping to get to Land's End on schedule."

[Lee]

Vale of White Horse leader Jerry Patterson is standing by the council's decision not to allow a national bus pass scheme for the over 60s and disabled people to operate from 9am (link below.)
http://www.oxfordmail.net/news/headlines/display.var.2189502.0.vale_wont_change_bus_pass_time.php

Oxford bus pass problems continue (link below.)
http://www.oxfordmail.net/news/headlines/display.var.2188894.0.oaps_queue_up_for_bus_passes.php

[Jim]

Like everything started on 01/04 - a total farce!

[Lee]

Some improvement in the bus pass situation has been reported (links below.)
http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=231771&command=displayContent&sourceNode=231774&contentPK=20405916&folderPk=108867&pNodeId=231888

http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=231771&command=displayContent&sourceNode=231774&contentPK=20405579&folderPk=108867&pNodeId=231888

[Lee]

Vale of White Horse leader Jerry Patterson is standing by the council's decision not to allow a national bus pass scheme for the over 60s and disabled people to operate from 9am (link below.)
http://www.oxfordmail.net/news/headlines/display.var.2189502.0.vale_wont_change_bus_pass_time.php

Age Concern has launched petitions across the Vale calling for people over 60 and those with disabilities to use their concessionary bus passes from 9am (link below.)
http://www.oxfordmail.net/news/headlines/display.var.2217019.0.bus_petitions_started.php

[Lee]

Frome pensioners could still be waiting for their new free bus passes a month after they should have been issued, according to Somerset County Council. The authority said it was still waiting for the Department of Transport to address problems with the system for issuing new bus passes to pensioners, after the introduction of the national concessionary fare scheme on April 1 (link below.)
http://thisissomerset.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=147472&command=displayContent&sourceNode=242195&contentPK=20464074&folderPk=113662&pNodeId=251478

It has set up a telephone line for people who may be waiting for their passes to come through.

Although most of the pensioners who applied before mid-March have now got their passes, the county council has expressed frustration at delays caused by the new DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) system.

In response to the complaints, the DfT has said that all pensioners who had submitted an application would receive their pass by the end of May.

[Lee]

DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) concessionary bus travel stakeholder bulletins (links below.)
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/regional/buses/concessionary/concessionarybustravelbill/listofdocuments/stakeholderbulletinnumbr13.pdf

http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/regional/buses/concessionary/concessionarybustravelbill/listofdocuments/stakeholderbulletinnumbr14.pdf