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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.

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

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:


BBC 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 Press Release (link below.)
http://nds.coi.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=364047&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=False

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


Meanwhile :


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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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.

DfT 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