Yesterday evening I learned of another quirk in the way that the current rules for free bus travel work in this neck of the woods
Around here if your trip either starts or finishes in your county, then it is free. This is the result of voluntary agreements between the bus companies & the councils & goes further than what is prescribed by law. The county in which you live pays the costs of your journeys
My most common bus ride takes me from Derbyshire, across Cheshire & into Stockport. The whole journey is free unless I want to break my journey in Cheshire to shop or visit the hospital. If I then want to continue to Stockport, I have to pay for that bit
The lady who got on the bus immediately behind me last night in Stockport wanted to make the same trip into Derbyshire, but she had a Cheshire pass, so she asked the driver how much she needed to pay to cover the final leg.
The driver explained that she would have to pay nothing. Technically, she would need to get off the bus at the Cheshire border, then get back on again to start a new journey. But no need to worry about that, just stay seated & the driver would deal with the ticketing
Everything changes in April when bus travel for the elderly will be free wherever your journey starts or ends. Very nice. Thank you very much. Only what they have had in London for years. Even Mick Jagger is entitled to a free bus pass
I understand though that the Government has also laid down national rules about which council pays for which journey. It is possible, for instance, that Stockport Council will have to pay for my bus rides home
I am recounting these details, not because I expect people to be interested or to think they matter to anyone under 60
The awful thing though is that I think they may cause everybody a great deal of trouble
Not only is entitlement to free travel being expanded in the same year that record numbers of people will qualify by celebrating their 60th birthday, but the rules determining who pays must make it extremely difficult to predict where the costs will fall. Thus playing havoc with the cash flows & financing of bus companies & councils
Coming on top of the serious problem of financing equal pay for male & female local government employees, I will not be surprised if we are in for the biggest crisis in local government finance since the Poll tax
Related post: Nationalising childbirth
