Section 22 operators in Wales are to receive an increase in concessionary fares reimbursement after a campaign by the Community Transport Association (CTA).
The CTA was contacted by a number of members in Wales who operate Section 22 routes, who shared their concerns about concessionary fare reimbursement. They said they were considering ending some of their routes as the current concessionary fare reimbursement arrangements meant that they were unable to cover the journey costs.
The CTA set up a meeting with colleagues in the Welsh Government. They advised that the regulations clearly state operators should be ‘no better and no worse’ off as a result of participating in the concessionary travel scheme. The CTA claimed that in practice, many community transport operators in Wales running Section 22 routes were worse off, with some making losses of up to £10,000 a year.
The CTA team in Wales subsequently put together a discussion paper which set out the current situation and made recommendations for changes. After sharing the paper with Welsh Government and ATCO (the Association of Transport Coordinating Officers), the decision was taken to raise the level of reimbursement for CT operators by adjusting the representative concessionary fare for CT by 8.7%, backdated to April 1, 2016.
A spokesman for Travol Community Transport, one of the effected operators, said: “On behalf of Travol Community Transport I must say that we are delighted with the increase secured and even more pleased with the fact that the increase is to be backdated.”
