Dawlish News
DOZENS of bus journeys across Devon will be cut-back or axed completely, the county council has announced.
Basically, if you want to live in a rural environment and not be cut off even more than you might already be, you'll need to have your own transport.
I think pressure needs to be put on the govt that the bus pass rules should be changed so that a contribution is made by the user per journey. That way we can protect some of the rural bus services.
There not free, somebody else is paying and is it not right that we return to what the bus pass used to be.
I agree with you that others are paying for the bus trips that those over the state pension age make (if they have claimed their bus pass).
So the question to be asked then I guess is this: should those of state pension age, and who choose to claim their bus pass/ need to claim their bus pass- should they pay a contribution towards their fares each time they use their bus pass?
(and there is then the wider question of how and on whom and on what should tax payers money be spent? NHS? State schooling? why stop with bus passes?)
I found the issues raised in the comment at the bottom of the article particularly interesting.
(and on the issue of who pays for the state retirement age bus pass - I need to change the statement I made in my post above. It isn't only those who are not of the state pension age who are paying for the bus passes. Do those of state pension age necessarily stop paying tax - income, VAT, council tax, other types? No. Therefore all tax payers, of whatever age, pay into the communal pot. And those taxpayers include those who are of the state pension age.
...and I'll come off the fence and say I think they should remain free, maybe not as low as 60, but definitely 65.
It is doubtful how much revenue would be gained if charged. But I think it is safe to say that pensioners being out and about provide a better society and more spend in shops etc. Also it keeps the health bill down by keeping them fitter and less depressed.
It isn't as low as 60 . It was as low as 60. But not any more. People become eligible for the bus pass when they are the age that is the state pension age for women. My brother-in-law has just qualified for his bus pass. He is 62 and a bit. The present state pension age for women. That age is going up rapidly. A woman who is only 18 months younger than him will not get her state pension until she is 65 and 3 months (or even more months than that). That is when she (and men of the same age) will get their bus pass should they so wish to claim one. Assuming of course that the bus pass still exists in 4+ years time.
You are absolutely right Lynne! I get my bus pass when I am 66 but by then they will be just a distant memory!! I was 60 in January!
Every day i watch bus after bus on the Exeter road empty not one passenger 6 have passed this evening with one passenger so who pay's for all those empty busses???
Is that because the train journey is so much cheaper? I just pose the question. The trains between Exeter and Dawlish are always full to bursting so clearly it is a popular choice of transport. I know from my own experience that train travel is far cheaper than travelling by bus but we do need better rolling stock and greater capacity on our trains,
With my over 60 railcard (and those who are younger can get a Devon and Cornwall railcard) I get a third off my railfare. The cheapest return bus ticket between here and Exeter is the £7.50(ish) day ticket. My return rail fare (using my card) is about half that amount. It might even be less than half that amount.
It is now around about £5.30 return bus fare from where I live in Dawlish to Teignmouth. Pay that amount to travel that distance? I think not!
£2.70 return to Exeter with a rail card.
After 7pm you can get a £2.80 ticket on the bus unlimited travel anywhere on Stagecoach.
My point was maybe cut the services that run empty in the evenings i would imagine these empty buses are running on tax payers money
I would imagine that nearly all off-peak bus services around and about are run at taxpayers expense.
Service 2 Exeter - Dawlish - Newton is a 'commercial' service and not supported by DCC (taxes). Stagecoach choose to run an hourly service in the evening into Dawlish until Midnight. last arrives at 0021.
In the days of Nationalised NBC in the 70s the services would certainly be discontinued.
As the lack of passenger use/need has been highlighted, maybe Stagecoach will consider withdrawal of services to Dawlish in the evening and transfer vehicles to areas in Devon where a service is required.
Why free bus passes and not free train passes? Is it just a throwback? If you installed Oyster card type readers on buses and at train stations you could quantify how much each company is to be reimbursed by DCC for free/subsidised travel. Presumably the driver already does something similar on buses.
Either they are 'full' or 'empty' lol..
Clearly Dawlish does not want buses in the evening,..point taken.
