Transit pass

There is a great bus services (award winning) from Lincoln to Skegness. I recently decided to take it to get to a meeting. I left Lincoln at 12 noon and arrived 40 minutes late at 2.20. None of the other passengers, all over 60 something, who filled its interior like Jonah’s whale, jostling past me as they sought out what seemed to be their personal seats, seemed to be remotely bothered about the delay. This story sadly suggests that my experience of recreational silver surfer sightseeing day trippers is soon to become a thing of the past. It tells us:

In many of the surveys and evidence calls undertaken by the Rural Services Network transport frequently comes top of the list of things Members are most concerned about. Connecting rural residents with key services such as education, health, leisure, retail and employment is vital, yet many Hinterland readers document ongoing challenges around accessing transport to do so – from villages served by three buses a day to villages that receive one bus a week; and from viewing car ownership as essential (with the increased fuel and maintenance costs that this brings) to which it feels like to be dependent on relatives and neighbours with cars to “go anywhere”. This piece picks up on the funding reductions that local authorities are having to make which has led 40% of them to cut spending on buses over the past year. Research carried out by the Campaign for Better Transport has shown how the Government’s austerity programme has led 41% of local Councils in England to make cuts to bus services, with 10% of Councils slashing their budget by more than 10%.

Apparently, Council budgets are under increased pressure because of the national off peak bus travel scheme for the elderly, In November, the Local Government Association warned of a “financial time bomb” caused by a 27% fall in Government support for the scheme between 2010 and 2015. However, Michelle Mitchell, Charity Director General, Age UK, said the elderly were still suffering the brunt of the cuts, despite the free bus travel scheme: “last year nearly 10 million older and disabled people owned concessionary bus passes and made an average of 109 bus journeys a year. But there is little point in having a bus pass if there are no buses to use”.

The Campaign for Better Transport research – ‘The crisis of bus provision in England: the second year of cuts to supported services – can be found here.