North East Buses

Old people moan about buses being late its them that hold buses up they should start paying to get on buses when they put there passes on that scanner thats holds up the buses 2

(07 Jan 2015, 9:54 pm)gneasy91 wrote [ -> ]Old people moan about buses being late its them that hold buses up they should start paying to get on buses when they put there passes on that scanner thats holds up the buses 2

Ho Ho Ho.
I use buses regularly & most delays I find are from people paying who
a) don't know where they are going
b) fiddle around getting the exact money
c) provide £20 notes for a very small fare so driver has to make loads of change.

Most people with concessionary passes get through much quicker as of corse do those with paid for day/weekly/monthly passes.

True but still think old people shud pay

(07 Jan 2015, 10:33 pm)gneasy91 wrote [ -> ]True but still think old people shud pay

I am all for concessionary passes for old people. Most can't drive and depend on the bus to get them out and about to the shops and they will be retired and living off a pension. However, disabled passes are where the line is drawn with me. If you are disabled or have an illness which is so bad that you are unable to work then yes, i completely agree. However, if the person has a minor disability but they can still work and pay taxes etc why should get the benefit of free travel?

(07 Jan 2015, 10:42 pm)Robert wrote [ -> ]I am all for concessionary passes for old people. Most can't drive and depend on the bus to get them out and about to the shops and they will be retired and living off a pension. However, disabled passes are where the line is drawn with me. If you are disabled or have an illness which is so bad that you are unable to work then yes, i completely agree. However, if the person has a minor disability but they can still work and pay taxes etc why should get the benefit of free travel?

I'm 100% in agreement. While I think some pensioners can be moany old twats that don't deserve to live - I would be devastated if my grandad was still alive and he had to pay. Fair enough he could just get a return from his house in Pelton to Chester, another thing I link him fondly to with my bus trips out with him as a little one, was it was literally the highlight of his day.

Sad really, that an innocent old man only really left the house to get a bus into the nearest town for a paper and to stock up on his essentials. You see, he was a miner, so he was used to getting up at the crack of dawn to do the most awful shifts imaginable. He would make up at 05:00, and over time found the 08:52 #78 (got to Chester for 09:04) was a nice quiet run that many of his old friends used to get too. Every morning, that same bus down, and the 09:45 #8 back up. After that, he was in for the day to watch the TV. He couldn't do much else other than try and maintain his garden.

It's upsetting to think how depressed he must have been, just sitting in his chair in the living room watching DVDs and his old comedies. I feel a bit selfish in hindsight in the respect that he used to wait especially for me to go up and see him on a Saturday, while I would be out enjoying myself riding a variety of buses, he would sitting on the edge of his seat with one eye on the TV and one eye on the little cut where I would walk along.

But, I would always bring him something special, whether that be a Steak Bake from Gregg's, a 6-inch Turkey from Subway, the list goes on. It made his day when I went up to see him. In Year 6 we would put bets on and watch the horses race before putting one of his favourite DVDs afterwards, before my mam or dad came to get me. I should have really made more effort, because at the end of the day, the only other people he would have made contact with were the people on the bus, and the folks at the club on a Monday or Friday night...my mam would spend entire days with him when she was off, though, but that still meant 3 days of sitting in the house by himself.

Anyway, back on topic, my point is - my grandad relied on that bus pass so he could go out in the morning and get what he needed. He wasn't a Victor; not an example of the others. If he saw somebody fall over in the distance, while it could take him 5 minutes to get there - he would make the effort to walk over until he saw they were up again, even though his back would be killing him.

I would be mortified if he had ever had to hand in his bus pass because it was rendered useless, he was a brilliant person who earned that bus pass.

Generally speaking, I don't have a problem with ENCTS and believe it should be retained. However I do believe it should be means-tested in some way.

All oap's and people with special and additional needs should get free travel.

I think if they didn't get the free travel, some would rarely venture out due to prices.

Should it be extended to under 18s then, to cover the rising cost of Education? Some get it, but a lot don't. I'd be fully for that, but until it happens, I can't support ENCTS, at least in its current form.

My announce with OAP concession passes is how they turn age 60 (is it still 60) and just get a pass no questions asked. At that age they could have nothing wrong with them and many people still work when there in their 60s and some are still physically fit so I just think this is all wrong.

I am in favor for concession passes for the disabled.

I would like to see something be done for under 18s too though as it can be expensive going to college and since EMA was scrapped a few years back some college students get no money from their chosen college and have to pay to get to school / college.

I must be honest, I'm dreading the costs of University.

I do think the passes should be;

• Over 60
• Under 22 (typical years of the average student)
• Physically Disabled (requires a wheelchair, etc)

(07 Jan 2015, 11:30 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote [ -> ]I must be honest, I'm dreading the costs of University.

I do think the passes should be;

• Over 60
• Under 22 (typical years of the average student)
• Physically Disabled (requires a wheelchair, etc)

I got a free network one pass from my uni, although its because of the course i'm doing.

(07 Jan 2015, 11:30 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote [ -> ]I must be honest, I'm dreading the costs of University.

I do think the passes should be;

• Over 60
• Under 22 (typical years of the average student)
• Physically Disabled (requires a wheelchair, etc)

From my experience of 1 semester at uni, there's no need to dread the costs of uni. You don't see the Tuition Fees, typically £9,000 PA. It goes straight from the Government's Student Loan Company to the uni you study at. 

The amount of Student Finance you receive is based around the amount of household income. The higher the amount of household income, the less Student Finance you'll get. I think the highest per semester a student can get is £5,555 (combined between a Maintenance Loan and a Grant), with it being more for London-based unis, such as Queen Mary or Imperial.

Most unis also provide some form of bursaries. Where I study at Northumbria, there is a £1,000 bursary for students who gained great A-Level results. The first £500 comes in February, with the other half coming in May.

Most oaps in county durham are ok to pay 50p before 9.30am and we do get a lot travelling, in tyne & wear the queues that form at all bus stops from 9.20am is unbelievable, hence why most post 9.30 buses run late. Also the amount that stop the buses from 9.25 "hoping" their pass will work or trying to delay us until 9.29 so they dont have to wait for the next bus. The most annoying thing for me is the lack of respect shown by 90% of free pass holders, passes slammed on the machine, pulling tickets before its cut & heaven forbid if its not accepted 1st time!!

Age for OAP concession passes is gradually rising to 66 as the womens' pension age rises from 60 to 66 in about 2016, when new style pensions start. At the moment men and women are eligible for a pass at about age 63, the age of eligibility going up every six months or so. I think people with concession passes should pay 50p per journey all day or a £2 all day ticket. That would not be too unreasonable and would ease the cost to councils, but it is unfair that the government doesn't fully reimburse councils for what they pay bus companies for passes. This means that the councils are cutting what they pay companies for accepting them and also that, in addition to the vast cuts to government funding for local authorities, the councils have even less money to subsidise essential bus services. Hence the cuts which, especially in rural areas, are causing unacceptable deprivation and drastically affecting peoples' lives. Many places in Cumbria now have no public transport and more unreasonable cuts in government funding to local authority grants are on the way so more subsidised services in the North East will undoubtedly be under threat. The level of government cuts to our councils is grossly unfair when some councils in the southern Tory heartlands have actually had their funding increased. This government must go, but I don't know that Labour proposals will make things better in the short term.

Does anybody on here watch the "Budget" each year that's on the TV?. you might find the answer to the question why the OAP's have the free travel on the buses. Also the under 18's do get good discounts from bus companies when their use their buses,

(08 Jan 2015, 9:18 am)cbma06 wrote [ -> ]Does anybody on here watch the "Budget" each year that's on the TV?. you might find the answer to the question why the OAP's have the free travel on the buses. Also the under 18's do get good discounts from bus companies when their use their buses,

The answer isn't in the budget, the answer is the ageing population and the grey vote.

The answer was in the Budget a few years ago when Labour was in, and when the lib dem/conservative got in their kept it the same as both sides agreed to keep it going. "The oap's have free reign to go where their like on buses in this country as their had to put up what their went through during the war." but in the future it will be phased out as the government is saying that people are lasting longer than their did in the olden days. pension age goes up every year, when I get older the pension age will start when im in my 70's if I last that long, anybody under 20 years of age at present, wont get to the state pension age until their early 80's. The government wants the public to work until their die and not go on pension when their retire.

(07 Jan 2015, 11:16 pm)aureolin wrote [ -> ]Should it be extended to under 18s then, to cover the rising cost of Education? Some get it, but a lot don't. I'd be fully for that, but until it happens, I can't support ENCTS, at least in its current form.

In that case, should it be extended to the unemployed and those on low income? Someone else mentioned it should be extended to those in higher education up to to the age of 22, but why should mature students be exempt? It will never be perfect as there's always someone who's going to be disadvantaged in some way. As I said, I'd like to see some sort of progressive means-testing applied. But for me, I'd rather have it as it is than have no provision at all. At least, that way, improvements and revisions to the scheme can be made. 

(08 Jan 2015, 8:51 am)Greg in Weardale wrote [ -> ]Age for OAP concession passes is gradually rising to 66 as the womens' pension age rises from 60 to 66 in about 2016, when new style pensions start. At the moment men and women are eligible for a pass at about age 63, the age of eligibility going up every six months or so. I think people with concession passes should pay 50p per journey all day or a £2 all day ticket. That would not be too unreasonable and would ease the cost to councils, but it is unfair that the government doesn't fully reimburse councils for what they pay bus companies for passes. This means that the councils are cutting what they pay companies for accepting them and also that, in addition to the vast cuts to government funding for local authorities, the councils have even less money to subsidise essential bus services. Hence the cuts which, especially in rural areas, are causing unacceptable deprivation and drastically affecting peoples' lives. Many places in Cumbria now have no public transport and more unreasonable cuts in government funding to local authority grants are on the way so more subsidised services in the North East will undoubtedly be under threat. The level of government cuts to our councils is grossly unfair when some councils in the southern Tory heartlands have actually had their funding increased. This government must go, but I don't know that Labour proposals will make thiings better in the short term.

I can confirm this. I am 60 and cannot have a bus pass because it is allied to the new pension scheme.

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(08 Jan 2015, 8:51 am)Greg in Weardale wrote [ -> ]Age for OAP concession passes is gradually rising to 66 as the womens' pension age rises from 60 to 66 in about 2016, when new style pensions start. At the moment men and women are eligible for a pass at about age 63, the age of eligibility going up every six months or so. I think people with concession passes should pay 50p per journey all day or a £2 all day ticket. That would not be too unreasonable and would ease the cost to councils, but it is unfair that the government doesn't fully reimburse councils for what they pay bus companies for passes. This means that the councils are cutting what they pay companies for accepting them and also that, in addition to the vast cuts to government funding for local authorities, the councils have even less money to subsidise essential bus services. Hence the cuts which, especially in rural areas, are causing unacceptable deprivation and drastically affecting peoples' lives. Many places in Cumbria now have no public transport and more unreasonable cuts in government funding to local authority grants are on the way so more subsidised services in the North East will undoubtedly be under threat. The level of government cuts to our councils is grossly unfair when some councils in the southern Tory heartlands have actually had their funding increased. This government must go, but I don't know that Labour proposals will make thiings better in the short term.

I can confirm this. I am 60 and cannot have a bus pass because it is allied to the new pension scheme.

Note: Posts moved from the GNE thread to here.

(08 Jan 2015, 1:22 pm)MurdnunoC wrote [ -> ]In that case, should it be extended to the unemployed and those on low income? Someone else mentioned it should be extended to those in higher education up to to the age of 22, but why should mature students be exempt? It will never be perfect as there's always someone who's going to be disadvantaged in some way. As I said, I'd like to see some sort of progressive means-testing applied. But for me, I'd rather have it as it is than have no provision at all. At least, that way, improvements and revisions to the scheme can be made. 

Absolutely. If you give one group of people a benefit to support their cost of living crisis, then it's only fair that the same benefit is extended to those in the same boat. I disagree with ENCTS in it's current form, as I think it's far from being affordable, and it's far too selective in who benefits. OAP before 0930 can travel for 50p in County Durham, yet a child, perhaps from a low income family, could be paying anywhere up to £2.30 to get to school. That's not right.

I read an article not long ago (Independent springs to mind), that it's costing nationally around 1bn a year to provide the free travel. The government have reduced the financial support they give to local councils and PTEs, to fund ENCTS, by about 39%. The amount of use hasn't dropped by 39%, so councils and PTEs are now having to plug that funding gap. In another article, I read that about 250m worth of subsidised bus routes in the UK have been cut since 2010. It's not rocket science that if a council or PTE is obliged to fund a statutory scheme (such as ENCTS), then it's going to have to look elsewhere when it comes to budget reduction. In this case, it's quite clear they've looked straight at the subsidised routes that they previously funded.

Maybe this is why there is a lot of discontent towards ENCTS from bus users? Fare paying customers paying a lot more for less. Fares have rocketed over the rate of inflation since ENCTS was brought in, and I know mine personally has more than doubled. There are a lot less commercially viable routes, and there is very little in the way of secured evening and Sunday services, which we've had in the past. It's nothing short of a disgrace that in 2014, some villages in Durham, do not have a single bus service on a Sunday. Perhaps the ENCTS model just doesn't work in a deregulated market?

(07 Jan 2015, 11:28 pm)Jimmi wrote [ -> ]My announce with OAP concession passes is how they turn age 60 (is it still 60) and just get a pass no questions asked. At that age they could have nothing wrong with them and many people still work when there in their 60s and some are still physically fit so I just think this is all wrong.

I am in favor for concession passes for the disabled.

I would like to see something be done for under 18s too though as it can be expensive going to college and since EMA was scrapped a few years back some college students get no money from their chosen college and have to pay to get to school / college.

Wait until you've been around as long as I have (60+ years) then see if you feel the same. Age concessionary passes are not now issued at 60 it is currently on a sliding scale increasing all the time, at this time it is 63 or 64.

I won't get mine until I'm 67