On 2 Apr, 00:32, (Colin Rosenstiel) wrote:

In article ,
(Joe Patrick) wrote:

Which is your council AAMOI?

Bristol City. Last year it was £735,000 and the figure of £1mill is
an estimate. Read in a newspaper that some councils are expecting a
shortfall of up to £2mill.

At least the same council is responsible for travel concessions and for
bus subsidies. Most of the (relatively) big problems look like they are
going to affect districts in two tier areas that don't have bus planning
responsibilities.


Ouch - I hadn't cottoned on to that dynamic, but I see it now.

Paul Scott wrote:

"Ian Jelf" wrote:

Yes, the passes are only obliged to be accepted on buses and not on other
services.

However, when Mum's arrived a couple of weeks ago the (Centro) paperwork
accompanying it said in response to a Q&A about availability on trams and
Metro services elsewhere that it *might * be made available and to "check
locally".

Trams like Croydon, Midland Metro, Manchester Metrolink, T&W Metro and so
on seem unlikely to me to accept them. The one place I thought *might*
bend that rule would be Blackpool, where the tram is (forgive me for
this!) more of a "bus on rails". But it remains to be seen.

Anyway, I was surprised about the Centro answer; I thought it would be a
blanket "no".

Nexus (T&W PTE) have a scheme where residents eligible for an over 60 or
Disabled national bus pass can have Metro & Rail travel for £12 per annum.
Seems a reasonable sum to cover the admin costs...


pedant mode on
Though it's really Metro only plus the Newcastle to Sunderland trains
(but AIUI Metro and rail tickets are interavailable on this route). It
doesn't cover the Newcastle to Blaydon via Metro Centre rail route.
pedant mode off

I agree it's a good deal, though IIRC previously 60+ residents (and I
guess the eligible disabled as well) of T&W got the Metro thrown in
for free so it's not quite a good a deal as it once was!

Joe Patrick wrote

Or too expensive. Which is what these Over 60 passes are. I am
appalled
that my local services are going to have to be cut (and it's going to
be
worse in seaside towns) to fund these passes which my local council
is
going to be short by about £1 Million.

These are all estimates which may be right or wrong. Unless someone can
quote data from Scotland no one can do more than guess what the
increase in usage will be, still less whether the payment from HM
Treasury will cover it. The budget for my (Surrey) district for last
year was £43 per pass.

They either need to be scrapped, or introduced on a means tested
basis.

How long has the phase "got my bus pass" been in use ?

The enhancement is because Brown wants votes, but I assume that the
idea was that getting Seniors out and about is good for their health
plus the cash going to bus companies will slow the deterioration in bus
services outside London.

--
Mike D

In article 01c8945f$ff37a560$LocalHost@default, (Michael
R N Dolbear) wrote:

Joe Patrick wrote

Or too expensive. Which is what these Over 60 passes are. I am
appalled that my local services are going to have to be cut (and it's

going to be worse in seaside towns) to fund these passes which my
local council is going to be short by about £1 Million.

These are all estimates which may be right or wrong. Unless someone can
quote data from Scotland no one can do more than guess what the
increase in usage will be, still less whether the payment from HM
Treasury will cover it. The budget for my (Surrey) district for last
year was £43 per pass.

I think the global total is more likely to be right than the amounts to
individual councils. Unlike earlier bus pass schemes, the charges are now
to the councils in which the journeys start and not to the councils whose
residents are using the buses. The formula barely acknowledges that this
will shift costs quite dramatically towards a small number of authorities,
some with little capacity to absorb the government's miscalculations.

They either need to be scrapped, or introduced on a means tested
basis.

How long has the phase "got my bus pass" been in use ?

The enhancement is because Brown wants votes, but I assume that the
idea was that getting Seniors out and about is good for their health
plus the cash going to bus companies will slow the deterioration in
bus services outside London.

Something that is not happening everywhere, of course.

--
Colin Rosenstiel