Ticketing and Concessionary Travel on Public Transport - United ...

Ev 64 Transport Committee: Evidence
5. Free <strong>Travel</strong> for Seniors <strong>and</strong> other “Disadvantaged” Groups
I would again first ask the committee to re-read what I said in section 10 of my memor<strong>and</strong>um to the
inquiry on public transport overcrowding. I continue to adhere to those views, even though they have now
been very much overtaken by events.
The free bus travel for pensioners has in Engl<strong>and</strong> (as it did in Scotl<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> Wales) produced an upsurge
in bus usage, especially on inter-urban routes. But it is to the long-term detriment of buses as a means of
public transport.
5.1 The Social Services Image of Bus <strong>Travel</strong>
Outside London, many British citizens view buses as a means of transport only used by the less wealthy.
Buses full of people over sixty strengthen that perception.
5.2 Things are Worse for Existing Fare-paying Passengers
There are three aspects to this. Firstly, there is the danger (which has now materialised on long inter-urban
routes such as the Nottingham–Manchester “Transpeak”) that fare-paying passengers wanting to get on at
intermediate stops are crowded oV by the “freebies”.
Secondly, there is the eVect of the “freebies” on the level of fares. In most areas, re-imbursement to the
operator is on the basis of a percentage of the adult fare. The higher the fare, the greater the re-imbursement.
If (as happens on some routes) the majority of passengers are “Seniors”, the operator will be tempted to set
the normal adult fare as high as possible.
Thirdly, there are signs that operators are now deliberately targeting the Senior “market”. In particular,
the elderly do not like going out in the evenings. Operators who focus on the Senior “market” will have their
buses back in the depot by 1900. The (fare-paying) younger generation want buses which run 18 (or even
24) hours a day.
5.3 A Massive Subsidy to Democratically Unaccountable Bus Operators
As a matter of pure legal theory, free travel for pensioners is meant to be a subsidy for pensioners, not
bus operators. The practical reality is now very clearly otherwise. Throughout most of Britain, enormous
sums of taxpayers’ money are now being paid to bus operators who (unlike their continental or London
counterparts) can decide when they are going to run their buses <strong>and</strong> the fares that that they are going to
charge.
5.4 Subsidising Seniors’ Inter-Urban Journeys
Most (but not all) of the current English schemes already allow free direct bus journeys from a Senior’s
home district to towns which are on a direct bus route from that home district. I personally see a lot of
Seniors making long free inter-urban journeys, eg Nottingham to Chesterfield or Lincoln to Skegness.
Is it right that the taxpayer should pay for such trips?
I answer this question with a resounding “No!” And I give that answer even though I am in my sixtieth
year, <strong>and</strong> I am retiring at the end of September. I do indeed intend to spend some of that retirement travelling
around the country on buses, but I do not think that my fellow tax-payers should pay for my joy-riding.
5.5 The Cost of Free <strong>Travel</strong> for Pensioners
Partly as a result of the “inter-urban” phenomenon just mentioned, the free bus travel for Seniors is
already (in Engl<strong>and</strong>) costing more than anticipated. There are also a large number of disputes regarding
re-imbursement rates for operators.
Free travel for Seniors (<strong>and</strong> I shall soon be one) is becoming an unacceptable burden on taxpayers. It is
particularly unfair on rural areas, <strong>and</strong> on Seniors who (for any reason) are unable to use bus services.
5.5 Conclusion—Abolish Free <strong>Travel</strong> for Seniors
Free travel concessions (except perhaps for the disabled) should not be exp<strong>and</strong>ed. Rather, they should be
abolished.
To soften the blow (<strong>and</strong> the potential political consequences) I would enact two straightforward
proposals:
A. All public transport operators (train, bus, tram <strong>and</strong> ferry but not air) must charge the over-60s half
the fare a normal adult would pay. There would be no time restrictions on this concession, <strong>and</strong> there
would be no reimbursement for operators.