Our bus driving columnist, Busman Bob, explains what he thinks will happen if the industry starts cutting bus fares for young people
After reading that Jeremy Corbyn plans to introduce a policy to save under 25s up to £1,000 per year on bus fares, I simply have to ask why? In my 10 years as a bus driver in the North West of England, I can say with confidence that school children and students provide a large part of the income where I work and I’m sure that this is the case with bus companies up and down the country. We already have concessions for over 60s and, let’s be honest, in this day and age anyone who can retire at or below 60 usually has a decent pension to fall back on. In other words, they still have a regular income. [wlm_nonmember][…]
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In a lot of cases, people are having to work longer as the cost of living continues to rise. Nevertheless I believe that anyone who has an income, whether it be a pension or a full or part-time job, should be made to pay a bus fare. It doesn’t have to be a full fare, but I feel that if this was the case a lot of bus companies would be financially better off instead of out of pocket. I remember several years ago, for example, people who wanted to travel from Burnley over the boundary into Pendle had to pay 50p. Even if it was a pound most people can afford that. After all, most pensioners use the bus to go and spend money at the shops, so why not pay a small amount such as 50p or £1 to use the bus? The National Concessionary scheme may well be good for getting people out and spending money – and yes it’s all good for the economy – but how many bus companies have disappeared into the history books since this scheme was introduced?
Often it takes months to get any reimbursement and now most receive less than they did. Most operators that have had to cease trading have been affected by the cutbacks and not enough fare paying passengers on some routes where the council no longer subsidise them. The other answer is to raise the age to 65 before concessionary travel is allowed. I say all of this without prejudice as my own father is a pensioner, and he agrees that everyone with an income should pay a small fare because like me he wants to see buses survive and not banished into oblivion.
Most bus companies that I know of already offer cut price travel for young people. In the case of my employer it’s a third off, so why we need to offer any more is beyond me. Savings don’t just apply to single fares either, this stretches to weekly, monthly and even yearly travel. If this scheme was implemented would there be a reduction to the cost of fuel to public transport operators, or would it bring back some subsidies in other ways, or will this be the start of yet more lost revenue that bus companies will have to face? What he fails to realise is that these aren’t toy buses we are playing with – its people’s jobs and livelihoods. I realise that buses are there to be run for passengers, but regardless of who owns them they have to make a profit in order to survive, just like any other business. With fuel, insurance and wage bills to cover, bus companies rely on healthy passenger numbers and fares.
It’s clear to me that politicians have already done enough damage to transport in this country and I think it’s time they started living in the real world. There are too many university graduates who rely on computers to provide all the answers, when in reality they need to spend time out in the real world with those of us who keep the wheels of this industry turning. I’m sure that most operators will notice a lot less income during the weeks when schools and colleges are on holiday, but just imagine having this income considerably reduced when they are there.
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