Qwerty133
Established Member
If the bus industry in this country is to succeed in getting people out of their cars and onto buses it needs to be able to provide a high quality service using modern vehicles of an appropriate size at a reasonable price. The presence of a widespread and poorly funded system of free concessionary travel creates a number of barriers for bus companies in being able to achieve this.
1. The systems of reimbursement in many areas that takes into consideration the typical fares on a route or area forces bus companies to charge artificially high fares to other passengers in order to get a reasonable level of compensation.
2. The low levels of reimbursement reduce the average income per passenger, sometimes to an unsustainable level, reducing the money available for investment for example in new vehicles and cleaning reducing the quality of service.
3. The knowledge that others do not have to pay reduces the willingness to pay for bus travel by many restricting passenger numbers and the ability for bus companies to set pricing policy. Offering free bus travel (but no similar concessions on other modes of transport) gives the impression it is the way poor people travel meaning others do not want to be associated with it.
4. The system creates artificial demand as many cardholders will make separate trips for things that could be combined simply for something to do. This means that bus companies have to use bigger buses which are more expensive to purchase, maintain and run and in the case of double deckers are seen as less desirable and safe by much of the public due to the inability to see the driver.
5. Some cardholders have a sense of entitlement that means they think they should get free travel on premium services and services outside of the permitted hours creating problems for bus companies in dealing with such people.
All of these reasons as well as the fact that many of the most disabled are unable to use bus services in any case so the system is of no benefit to them means that I believe it is time for the system to be scrapped and replaced by something much more limited in eligibility and means tested that provides wider benefits for the most vulnerable whilst requiring rich pensioners and those in paid work to pay their way like everyone else so that general fares can be reduced and investment in bus services increased without any additional cost for councils.
1. The systems of reimbursement in many areas that takes into consideration the typical fares on a route or area forces bus companies to charge artificially high fares to other passengers in order to get a reasonable level of compensation.
2. The low levels of reimbursement reduce the average income per passenger, sometimes to an unsustainable level, reducing the money available for investment for example in new vehicles and cleaning reducing the quality of service.
3. The knowledge that others do not have to pay reduces the willingness to pay for bus travel by many restricting passenger numbers and the ability for bus companies to set pricing policy. Offering free bus travel (but no similar concessions on other modes of transport) gives the impression it is the way poor people travel meaning others do not want to be associated with it.
4. The system creates artificial demand as many cardholders will make separate trips for things that could be combined simply for something to do. This means that bus companies have to use bigger buses which are more expensive to purchase, maintain and run and in the case of double deckers are seen as less desirable and safe by much of the public due to the inability to see the driver.
5. Some cardholders have a sense of entitlement that means they think they should get free travel on premium services and services outside of the permitted hours creating problems for bus companies in dealing with such people.
All of these reasons as well as the fact that many of the most disabled are unable to use bus services in any case so the system is of no benefit to them means that I believe it is time for the system to be scrapped and replaced by something much more limited in eligibility and means tested that provides wider benefits for the most vulnerable whilst requiring rich pensioners and those in paid work to pay their way like everyone else so that general fares can be reduced and investment in bus services increased without any additional cost for councils.