Bus passes

[Gingerbrews]

As an old fart in Scotland, I've got my free Scotlandwide bus pass

 

[Dutto]

As an old fart in Scotland, I've got my free Scotlandwide bus pass

Ditto England!

Problem!

We have a Bus-Pass, but the latest wheeze by the government (*) is to cancel or reduce the subsidies to the bus companies; especially in the countryside!

Result? Us oldies still have a bus-pass, but now don’t have a bus to use it on!


(*)
I hate to use this word for the group of incompetent, avaricious liars that are currently running the UK and apologise for my lack of vocabulary!

 

[dad_of_jon]

(*)
I hate to use this word for the group of incompetent, avaricious liars that are currently running the UK and apologise for my lack of vocabulary!

I beg to differ, i'm impressed by the word avaricious .

My interesting word for the day is paradigm.

 

[Rodcx500z]

I have a bus pass last 6 years, only time i use it is on holiday so i can visit pubs and not worry about driving, apart from Scotland which is a shame it should cover the whole uk

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Or Wales don’t work there either.

 

[Rodcx500z]

I for one will never stop using my car even if they make buses free, i like to get up in a morning and say on a whim go out to the lakes how would you do that without a car, take the car away is taking freedom of movement away and that is control which is wrong a very serious issue indeed, buses are free for me and my misses and i only use them on holiday so i can go the pub, how would you get to cornwall on holiday with no car

 

[Stu's Brews]

I for one will never stop using my car even if they make buses free, i like to get up in a morning and say on a whim go out to the lakes how would you do that without a car, take the car away is taking freedom of movement away and that is control which is wrong a very serious issue indeed, buses are free for me and my misses and i only use them on holiday so i can go the pub, how would you get to cornwall on holiday with no car

The key is that people use their car less for those journeys where you could legitimately use an alternative such as walking, cycling or public transport.

If you take my example for travelling from my house to the town centre; it's a 2.5mile journey that I can walk in 50 minutes, cycle in 15 minutes or I can take the bus. Yet I suspect the vast majority of people would jump in their cars, partly because of the perceived convenience (by the time you've actually navigated traffic and parked both cycling and the bus would be as quick or quicker) or because it works out cheaper than the bus.

I don't think anyone would ever really suggest you shouldn't have a car for the type of journey you describe.

 

[Rodcx500z]

We do walk into town it's 500yds away along with about 7 pubs and a bus station also a guided busway to Manchester, my problem is shopping and getting it home we tried the online version they send stuff with very short dates so we gave up, so it's the car for us i aint waiting for a bus then walking with a pile of shopping, we didn't create this problem the local councils did that with their fancy out of town retail parks we have a massive one within 1 mile of were we live and there is no bus service to it, it has asda, sainburys, m&s maccy ds kentucky, gyms, aldi, lidl, but no bus service, the town centre is dead on it's feet they created it they can sort it as well

 

[Cheshire Cat]

We do walk into town it's 500yds away along with about 7 pubs and a bus station also a guided busway to Manchester, my problem is shopping and getting it home we tried the online version they send stuff with very short dates so we gave up, so it's the car for us i aint waiting for a bus then walking with a pile of shopping, we didn't create this problem the local councils did that with their fancy out of town retail parks we have a massive one within 1 mile of were we live and there is no bus service to it, it has asda, sainburys, m&s maccy ds kentucky, gyms, aldi, lidl, but no bus service, the town centre is dead on it's feet they created it they can sort it as well

Sounds like you live in Leigh. If so the market is good.

 

[Rodcx500z]

I agree the market is good and open every day

 

[Cwrw666]

I've never bothered with a bus pass. Nearest bus stop is 3 miles away...

 

[RichardM]

Or Wales don’t work there either.

Mine works in Wales, but not England, Scotland or Northern Ireland...and I got it when I was 60

 

[London]

My over 60’s Oyster card is only for London but I can use tube and most trains As well as buses.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Mine works in Wales, but not England, Scotland or Northern Ireland...and I got it when I was 60

That’s could be because you live in Wales

 

[RichardM]

That’s could be because you live in Wales

That'll be it

 

[barry.morgan71]

I got my bus pass a year ago, but haven't used it yet, why? Because there are no buses. I have a very bad knee so can't walk to the next village to catch a bus. There would be little point though because that bus doesn't go to the nearest town, just shuttles between another village and a large town many miles away.

 

[Dutto]

I've never bothered with a bus pass. Nearest bus stop is 3 miles away...

We had a brand-new one right outside our door, complete with a ramp for wheelchairs; and then the bus was cancelled!

First by the bus company on the basis that the roads on the route were so bad that they knackered the bus’s suspension; then by the government who failed to mend the roads or change the route and withdrew the subsidy!

“Lions lead by donkeys!” anyone?

 

[foxy]

We had a brand-new one right outside our door, complete with a ramp for wheelchairs; and then the bus was cancelled!

First by the bus company on the basis that the roads on the route were so bad that they knackered the bus’s suspension; then by the government who failed to mend the roads or change the route and withdrew the subsidy!

“Lions lead by donkeys!” anyone?

The councils have to repair roads here. Can't see the logic in governments having to get involved fixing pot holes?! No wonder the country is in such a mess.

 

[Dutto]

The councils have to repair roads here. Can't see the logic in governments having to get involved fixing pot holes?! No wonder the country is in such a mess.

There were three routes within one hour and one of them looped out of the town on to a road “repaired” by the District Highways Department which is “funded” by the government.

In ten years of using this stretch of road I saw the same pothole “repaired” at least 20 times!

It was obviously not in the Contractor’s interests to permanently repair the road; or in the Energy Company’s interests to put in a permanent repair after they had dug up the road twice to lay power lines from an offshore wind farm!

“Yes!” we have Highways Departments that are supposed to check the quality of all repairs; but yet again they are constrained by budget cuts that have been put in place by the so called government!


“Lions lead by donkeys!”

 

[foxy]

In ten years of using this stretch of road I saw the same pothole “repaired” at least 20 times!

Reminds me of Triggers broom, have you got a photo of the said 'pot hole'