You may have noticed that I’ve added another site to the Bus Blogroll – The Bus Passes Blog. I’ve added the link not because I’m a supporter of bus passes but because the site does cover its subject extremely well.

Since I earn my living driving a bus I should be all in favour of bus passes and the revenue they provide to my employer, but I’m also a tax payer who resents the £1 billion per year cost of a benefit given out without regard to anything other than a numerical number of years. Alan Sugar can have a bus pass, Richard Branson can have a bus pass, Paul McCartney can have a bus pass etc etc. Giving a free bus pass to everyone whose age is the number 60 or greater, regardless of wealth, health and need, is as indefensible as giving everyone whose house number is 60 or greater a free bus pass! A bus pass should be issued because of need, not because of a magic number. Given the choice to award a bus pass to either a 60 year Senior Partner in a City law firm or a 16 year old school leaver trying to get to job interviews who would you give it to? There aren’t many holders of bus passes who couldn’t afford to make a small contribution toward the cost of their ticket rather than have the tax payer pick up the lot!

Prior to the introduction of the free bus pass, the bus pass entitled the holder to half price travel. I don’t think this passenger contribution to the cost of travel actually stopped anyone who needed to travel from travelling. But once it became a ‘right’ to get on any bus and go anywhere for free some people began to abuse it. Prior to free travel I don’t think I ever heard someone ask “Where are you going?” and when told said “That’s fine, I’ll go there then”, they don’t need to go anywhere but because it’s a ‘right’ to get on any bus they’ll use it and let the taxpayer pay for their ticket.

It was nice to read that at least one bus company Chief Executive, Keith Ludeman of Go-Ahead, has some idea about limiting use. A report here says “Last year Ludeman warned that the 11 million pensioners who enjoy the scheme “cannot be given a blank cheque” and suggested putting a cash limit on passes once they become part of an Oyster-style national smartcard programme.”