Thank you for your post, LiskeardRich.
That imposed lack of 'discretion for drivers' I find shocking. In my previous role, as a grocery delivery driver, we were given 'unlimited discretion' as to how to handle 'unhappy' customers.
In the course of ten years, I had to use that discretion on only a few occasions - and when I did, it cost my employer just a few pounds, in terms of extra mileage when I did a redelivery within my shift, for example. The amount of positive feedback from grateful customers more than justified that financial cost, in terms of ongoing goodwill.
Your summary of the various rules imposed by different councils simply shows how much the bus fare and concession system needs to be rationalised. If I were blind (and I'm not, yet), how could I easily know what those local rules are, and how they may vary from parish to parish?

The Company I work for give us lots of discretion. When it comes to local authority related things, the
LA▸ give zero discretion. My employer used to have it enabled they could board after 0927. LA got wind and that has been removed. Even a 0930 departure from a bus station or other origin we can’t board them until 0930 now since the LA intervention. Result all 0930 departures run late.
Ugh. That way of managing is *so* low aspiration in it's approach and it's encountered in all sorts of nooks and crannies, why an organisation's leadership puts up with it is anyone's guess.
Mark
Mark