Plain Talker   11 #85 Posted January 17, 2007 <snippitty> I always thought children DID get a free pass for going TO/FROM school and half any other time while they were still AT school. (even the ones smoking a fag on the top deck (when they/we could).  Maybe if they DID get free travel for going to school it might keep a few cars off the roads at those times.....  And ...well said Ms Macbeth...same applies here.  most children do get free travel passes, if their school is over 2 miles (junior) or three miles (senior) as the crow flies from their home. (or at least, that's what It used to be... the goalposts have probably been moved yet again... lol Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
landi   10 #86 Posted January 17, 2007 ::  Or maybe they wouldn't have walked if it was uphill or even downhill knowing that they would have a hill to climb on their return.....thinking that the 40p is a lot for just 2 stops.  Maybe they didn't go out at all if they had a disability with walking...heart problems maybe? which don't LOOK like an obvious disability.  So the free fares gives them that bit of freedom now.  I realise that the title asks "should kids/oaps pay half fare" but things HAVE changed since it was first posted and now we get FREE travel.  I always thought children DID get a free pass for going TO/FROM school and half any other time while they were still AT school. (even the ones smoking a fag on the top deck (when they/we could).  Maybe if they DID get free travel for going to school it might keep a few cars off the roads at those times.....  And ...well said Ms Macbeth...same applies here.  The distance was flat along woodseats from tesco the the bottom of cobnar road and with the traffic along chesterfield road it would have been quicker to walk and it was a lovely day some are taking advantage and the Fares for all other travellers are ridiculous Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Plain Talker   11 #87 Posted January 17, 2007 it's not that flat, (although I grant you, it's more level than the Meadowhead bit) but it's still a hike, especially if you are elderly, and/or laden with shopping. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
SheShe   10 #88 Posted January 17, 2007 I can't believe how this type of thread always turns into oap bashing. I get £200 per month pension because I didn't pay the required full stamp while working part time bringing my children up. I still work full time and the £200 is added to my income for taxation. I get no help from anyone for rent ,council tax etc so don't understand why the response gets so hateful and biased because ALL oaps get free travel. This was a gift by the way it wasn't asked for although it's very welcome. The people who do want it taken off them are the skivers with couldn't care less doctors pretending to be disabled. Bring back the government medical examinations and see how many suddenly feel better. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Ms Macbeth   76 #89 Posted January 17, 2007 I can't believe how this type of thread always turns into oap bashing. I get £200 per month pension because I didn't pay the required full stamp while working part time bringing my children up. I still work full time and the £200 is added to my income for taxation. I get no help from anyone for rent ,council tax etc so don't understand why the response gets so hateful and biased because ALL oaps get free travel. This was a gift by the way it wasn't asked for although it's very welcome. The people who do want it taken off them are the skivers with couldn't care less doctors pretending to be disabled. Bring back the government medical examinations and see how many suddenly feel better.  Very similar situation to me SheShe, I couldn't agree more. The culture when we were young was for mums to stay home for a few years, so we lost out on NI contributions, and many of us only went back part time and paid married women's stamps - it was the norm! We didn't all have husbands in well paid jobs either, and pension awareness wasn't like it is now. We expected to get something that was related to average incomes, cos thats how things were. We didn't even get child benefit for the first child when my oldest was born in 1969. Successive governments have done little for us, we always seem to be in the wrong age group! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
poppins   10 #90 Posted January 17, 2007 No, I don't think OAP should travel free, most are just along for the ride anyhow, but there's nothing wrong with that as long as they pay like everyone else. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
KenH   10 #91 Posted January 17, 2007 most children do get free travel passes, if their school is over 2 miles (junior) or three miles (senior) as the crow flies from their home. (or at least, that's what It used to be... the goalposts have probably been moved yet again... lol   It depends. If you apply for your local community school but they can't give you a place and offer you one 3 miles away then you get a pass. If you apply for the place miles away then you don't, nor do you if they offer you a place nearer. I wonder if there are many children with a pass. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
birdsandbees   10 #92 Posted January 17, 2007 deregulation, hand the busses back to be run for non profit, 20p upto 18 in education, 50p adults, Free OAP's, you would get more people on busses, less cars on road, busses would beable to try to run on time as less traffic ok, ok i'll wake up now Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
landi   10 #93 Posted January 18, 2007 deregulation, hand the busses back to be run for non profit, 20p upto 18 in education, 50p adults, Free OAP's, you would get more people on busses, less cars on road, busses would beable to try to run on time as less traffic ok, ok i'll wake up now  that would be great lol Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
muddycoffee   10 #94 Posted January 18, 2007 deregulation, hand the busses back to be run for non profit, 20p upto 18 in education, 50p adults, Free OAP's, you would get more people on busses, less cars on road, busses would beable to try to run on time as less traffic ok, ok i'll wake up now  The only way we could finance this would be to use congestion charging like thay have in London.  Interesting to compare our situation to other european countries, where you can pay the equivalent of £3 to travel for five days or ten trips or something like that. The difference is they pay much higher taxes for this privalage. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Ann* Â Â 10 #95 Posted January 18, 2007 Should people with mobility passes or Oap's and Children pay half fare when travelling on public transport? Well my personal view is that they should just like they do in many other cities across the UK. Â The current system is often abused as hardly any kids show their passes in order to claim their reduced fare, and the same goes for a lot of oap's, so if they were charged a full half fare then the Council tax payer may get a farer deal through the funding he/she provides to the SYPTE. Â If anybody could not prove their age and the Driver was unsure of their age because they look borderline they could be issued with a Half Fare rather then a standard 40p then the tax payer would not have to subsidise the scroungers who try to avoid paying full fare so much. Â Its one of the things that used to annoy me when i was a driver the amount of times people would try to get on for 40p and me knowing that it was coming out of my council tax. Â The next time you are on a bus or Tram just look how many times people ask for 40p without showing a pass and you will see what i mean. ITS YOUR COUNCIL TAX THEIR WASTING! Â You should consider yourself lucky that kids pay anything at all on the buses in your area. Â London buses have given free fares to all children up to the age of 16 (18 if they are still in full-time education). If they look 14 or over they are supposed to apply for a child's Oyster Card, but many don't, and it's amazing the number of obvious 16-17 year olds get on the bus and say they're only 13. Unfortunately, the bus drivers rarely challenge this, because things could turn nasty. Â Another downside to this is the bus hoppers, who crowd on to a bus cause loads of disruption and get off at the next stop. Â Just before Christmas, I was on a bus and some boys got on trying to get away from some other boys, but the bus got caught in a traffic jam, and the chasing boys just waited at the next bus stop. The boys who were on the bus were shouting from the back of the bus at the driver not to stop, even though there were people who wanted to get off. Eventually, someone told them shut up. The chasing group got on, and nothing happened ~ in fact it was really peaceful. Â Between 7.30 and 8.30 a.m. weekdays, it is impossible to get on a bus near where I live, because the lazy so and sos won't walk the short distance to school ~ well they don't have to anymore, because they don't have to pay. Meanwhile us fare-payers can't get on a bus. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
heeleygirl   10 #96 Posted January 18, 2007 I think I'll risk a couple of quid on my council tax so a forgetful old dear doesn't have to use her meager pension to pay the full or even half of the extortionately high fares Erm... £1.20 for a 5 minute journey... why? do buses have tea and biscuits included in the fare?  Couldn't agreee more, rather my bit of brass from tax go to fee travel for us wrinkles than proping up all these public secter pensions Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...