A million journeys puts strain on buses

6:30am Saturday 6th September 2008

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A new bus pass scheme for pensioners could cost the city council £400,000.

In total 1,080,487 journeys in Oxford were made using the new national passes in the three months from April - when the scheme was introduced - to June, an increase of 338,000 (46 per cent) on the previous year.

The explosion in the number of OAPs getting out and about is being heralded as great news for old folk, but could end up leaving Oxford City Council with a black hole in its budget.

The council has only been given £800,000 by the Government for the scheme, but expects to spend at least £1.2m covering the cost.

Council chief executive Peter Sloman said: "This is like having a plug hole in the budget and watching the rest of your council services disappear without any control.

"We need to step up lobbying of the Government for more money because there is a massive redistribution in wealth between urban and rural areas going on.

"We will significantly have to reduce other services to fund this, unless the Government changes the scheme."

Deputy council leader Ed Turner said: "We are really pleased lots of pensioners are using the buses, but the way the money is distributed is causing us a real headache."

But pensioners' spokesman Bill Jupp said he thought businesses would be feeling the benefit of the grey pound.

He said: "Old people really love and appreciate their free bus passes and this shows it. The majority of old people in this country are women and a lot of them are on their own. This gets them out of their home and back into our towns and cities and back into society. I believe it will have health benefits for getting people out and not just sitting at home.

"If pensioners are coming into Oxford you can bet your life their coming out of Oxford having bought something, so traders must be benefiting."

Sixty-year-old Roger Jenking, from Headington, who this year took a nine-hour bus journey from Oxford to Crewe with his free bus pass, said: "It's great news. I'm surprised by the rise in the amount of journeys but people are really enjoying their passes and the freedom it gives them."

However, free bus fares have caused overcrowding on some city buses such as Stagecoach's number one service from Oxford to the city centre via Cowley.

Spokesman Chris Childs said: "We have busy buses on a number of services where there is a capacity issue and we are looking at bigger buses to make sure everybody has a seat."

Paul Gray, operations manager of the Gray Line bus company in Bicester, said: "We are losing out because of the concessionary fare scheme.

"When the time of free travel comes into effect it has been known for all the senior citizens to be sat down and fare-paying customers having to stand up.

"It is right that pensioners should be sat down, but sometimes it is leaving a mother with push chairs having to stand-up which isn't the safest option."

"Some senior citizens used to just go into town once or twice a week, but now they can come and go as they please they take as many as five or six trips a day."

HOW THE SCHEME WORKS: When a passenger takes a trip using their free national concessionary pass, the council where the journey originates from, picks up the tab.

Travellers are now only allowed to get one-way tickets. Under the old scheme if a pensioner, for example, took a return journey from Radley Road, Abingdon to Oxford, the Vale of White Horse District Council would reimburse the bus company for the return fare.

However, under the new scheme, pensioners can only get a single from Abingdon to Oxford leaving the city council to pay for the return journey.