That’s a headline in yesterday’s Sunday Times. The article is online but you need to have subscribed to the Sunday Times website to read it, or have a bought a copy of the Sunday Times.

Basically, it’s an update on a Stagecoach Press Release from 2007 which announced the launch of the “UK’s first Bio-buses as part of a ground-breaking environmental initiative that will allow customers to exchange used cooking oil for discounted bus travel.” What the Press Release didn’t mention was that Argent Energy “which operates the UK’s first large-scale biodiesel plant, will provide bulk fuel storage at Stagecoach’s Kilmarnock depot for the duration of the six-month trial and will supply all the biodiesel” is 40% owned by Brian Souter and his sister.

“In an attempt to raise awareness, Stagecoach supplied all households on the route with a free half-litre container to recycle their cooking oil. The company has also been out to see all the local schools to give educational talks about environmental issues.”

“The charm offensive is aimed at encouraging local people to take their used chip fat to East Ayrshire council’s recycling plant and trade it in for a voucher that entitles them to a 20p discount on their next bus journey.”

What is a surprise in the article are the quotes from Sam Greer, Stagecoach’s regional director for Scotland. “Despite the higher operating costs, Greer said this is more than offset by an increase in passenger numbers. In the first year after introducing the bio bus on the Kilmarnock route, passenger numbers rose 32.7%, he said. “Stagecoach also noted that a recent straw poll of its passengers showed that 8% said they used the service because it was running on biofuel.”

PS It makes me smile to read all these stories about vegetable oil being used as diesel fuel as if it were a new idea. When Otto Diesel invented the diesel engine it was powered by peanut oil – fossil fuel came later.

The first Room 101 post was about Mobility Scooters. Today I want to consign CAPTCHAs to Room 101. I’ve just about given up trying to use my Google Analytics account because I can’t make sense of the CAPTCHAs, I never get it right so it presents another, I get that wrong, another appears …… and so on …… and so on ….. Here’s the 5th or 6th one I’ve been presented with. I’m showing it in the same size as it’s presented to me. Can you work it out?

I HATE these things!

There are alternatives. Here’s one I like which requires you to drag a slider.

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.”