17-05-2012, 06:37 PM
21
Re: Free travel.
Personally I think it wrong for the taxpayer to fund free travel for the over 60s if they can afford the fare themselves. There are people arguing that doing away with the bus pass would increase car journeys, which I agree may be true to an extent, but if they can afford a car and afford to run it, then why cannot they afford the bus fare?I also agree that the convenience of the bus for short journeys, into town etc. and the business that it brings into town is important, but again, if a car was used instead for the same journey, just because of the lack of a bus pass, then it is obviously not the convenience of the bus that's important, just the fact that it saves a couple of bob.
Also what is the justification for subsidising cross country journeys, if the point of these passes is to facilitate local journeys and assist local businesses? The taxpayer is just being taken for a ride by a system which was introduced by a desperate government trying to buy votes with other people's money.
However, being a realist I know that it would be political suicide for any party to slay such a sacred cow, and I know it won't happen, however much I think that it should...
17-05-2012, 09:40 PM
22
Re: Free travel.
Bristol is said to have one the most expensive bus service in the country and if the bus passes were stopped, many seniors could never afford to venture into town very often. For my husband and I to travel into town without a bus pass, a distance of 4 miles return, it would cost us £10. Bus travel would be a luxury without the pass!
17-05-2012, 10:25 PM
23
Re: Free travel.
Originally Posted by Mags
->
Bristol is said to have one the most expensive bus service in the country and if the bus passes were stopped, many seniors could never afford to venture into town very often. For my husband and I to travel into town without a bus pass, a distance of 4 miles return, it would cost us £10. Bus travel would be a luxury without the pass!
By the way it is not just pensioners in Aberdeen who have a Bus Pass...................I know several young persons about ages between 25 and 35 who have bus passes.They qualify because of health reasons,learning difficulties,not being able to drive a car owing to being an Epileptic etc.
17-05-2012, 11:27 PM
26
Re: Free travel.
I never applied for one when I turned 60 because I have my car, which gets me from A to B, and that's as far as I want to go these days. It gets me to work and and I can get my shopping done without hassle.However, it would be very wrong if the bus pass were to be abolished because many older people don't have the luxury of a car and are on basic pension, which is next to poverty, so they would be marooned in their own homes if they couldn't get on a bus for a change of scenery or to visit friends and relatives, which could then lead to depression, most especially if they live alone.
It would take away from them whatever independence they still have and, let's face it, the average senior citizen in this country isn't known for their wealth.
18-05-2012, 07:20 AM
28
Re: Free travel.
Never had one never want one, I am with Barry to a point on this one.Granted there are some people who benefit from them but there are far more who abuse them and the country can not afford them at the moment.
There are two people on the Avenue where we live and if I said they were Millionaires it would be an understatement. They both have cars(Plural) which they rarely use but EVERY day they use their bus pass even if it is ' just to have a ride somewhere' as they say.
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