Cornwall Council make changes in OAP Bus Passes

[whole diary]

[RailCornwall]

I believe it's the extraordinary way that the system was introduced. I think drivers can only issue single tickets and therefore the face value of these is high, whether there's a discount offered by operators to the Local Authorities once these tickets are cashed in I don't know. Renegotiating this will have to be part of any rejigging the system.

[onthecushions]

The senior citizen bus pass subsidy has the important effect of maintaining the bus network during the day.

As long as extra buses aren't needed, (the number is dictated by peak demand when passes aren't valid) the marginal cost is only that of issuing the passes and the fares foregone.

Remove the OAP pass subsidy and the bus network collapses, as does the plusbus system that considerably extends the usefulness of the passenger railway.

A glance at a county bus map (none for Berkshire, note) shows that the local bus network is unsuitable for longer journeys with speeds typically of 20mph. Also there are some odd gaps; you can go from Reading to Oxford, Newbury, High Wycombe or Bracknell conveniently but not to Basingstoke or even to Maidenhead. The 40 odd miles from Reading to the coast is also not practicable.

OTC