Trouble on the Buses * UK - As many pensioners go free
Bus operators and local authorities are at loggerheads over a government scheme that gives pensioners free bus travel amid fears that ministers have seriously underestimated the costs of the £1 billion scheme
London,UK -The Times, by Angela Jameson -July 5, 2008: -- ... Stagecoach and Go-Ahead are among the operators that have 26 judicial reviews pending against the Department for Transport over disputed payments for concessionary fares for the past financial year... Transport groups have also made 100 appeals against reimbursements proposed by local authorities for the national concessionary fare scheme, which was introduced in April and allows pensioners to travel across the country on buses free if they have a national bus pass... The dispute is brewing as bus companies report that record numbers of pensioners are travelling free on their services, using the new national bus pass... However, the success of the scheme is already in doubt as bus operators are threatening to cut back on services and push fares up sharply for other passengers, saying that they are not being sufficiently reimbursed... (Pîcture: Bus operators are seeking judicial reviews on a funding shortfall from authorities in the scheme that gives pensioners free travel)Labels: free bus passes
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