Equal rights for old English people! (Non Londoners)

[Lord Bracknell]

We have Dutch friends who spend most of their time in this country touring the canals on their narrow boat. For personal admin reasons they have registered an address at the marina where their boat is based. Using that address they have been given OAP bus passes.

O U T R A G E O U S.

Free Amsterdam tram passes for Brits is my demand.

The travel concession for senior citizens in Amsterdam isn't free travel. It's a 34 per cent discount on standard adult fares. I don't think British citizenship is a barrier to qualification for this concession.

 

[Leekbrookgull]

When it comes to bus passes, though, it's not the responsibility of councils to do the thinking. It's a matter for the devolved governments in Edinburgh, Cardiff, Belfast and (in England) Westminster.

Lord/B as it stands for every passenger using a Pass say in B and H the council have to pay the operator,however what the council does not have to do (apart from school buses) is provide a subsidy to any operator who says wants to run a service Brighton to HH.

 

[Brovion]

Transport policy across the UK is set by the respective devolved governments. So transport policy in England is set by Westminster, who have decided that the national bus pass age is (at present) 60 in London, and 66 across the rest of England.

https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-elderly-person-bus-pass
.

So it isn't a national policy then, unlike say motorway speed limits or indeed the qualifying age for the state pension. As you say it's devolved. Which leads me on to ...

You've also whined about the council when you've been on about the costs of travelling on buses in Brighton & Hove, as if they have any meaningful say. They don't.

Yes I have complained. Brighton Council (the political hue doesn't matter) built a private company a private road network. As we know from the railways the Go-Ahead Group aren't the slightest bit interested in providing transport solutions - they exist to make a profit for their shareholders. Brighton Council have done NOTHING to protect the interests of Brighton residents or visitors. Every time the bus company jack up the unregulated fares they just shrug their shoulders and say "Nothing we can do". More progressive and caring councils (such as Bradford) provide cheap or free buses - although I believe Bradford have now started charging a flat £1 fee (which is still a lot less than we pay).

The fact I'm pissed off by Go-Ahead's blatant profiteering and our compliant, spineless, dont-give-a-shit council doesn't mean I don't know the difference between local and nationally-controlled policies.

 

[Brovion]

I always find it hilarious when the elderly complain about how 'hard' they get it. Never mind the enormous amount of national debt, lack of social housing, stagnant wages and high property prices us younger lot have to face.

You can't get a bus pass until you're 66.

Unlucky, geezer. I really feel for you.

Thanks! Much appreciated!

 

[dazzer6666]

this is a consequence of devolution isnt it? the government free bus is from retirement age, then devolved governments or councils can offer free travel to lower age groups on thier budget.

Paid for by all those English taxpayers.......

 

[pearl]

Apparently I can get into the Brighton Museum free! Now all I've got to do is get there ...

so can I because I pay council tax here

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Lord/B as it stands for every passenger using a Pass say in B and H the council have to pay the operator,however what the council does not have to do (apart from school buses) is provide a subsidy to any operator who says wants to run a service Brighton to HH.

It's a matter for local discretion if a council wishes to subsidise a bus service that no bus company will provide without subsidy. If the council does choose to fund such a service, there is an obligation to invite tenders from a range of operators. In the current climate of strict central government control of local authority spending, there are few councils that can afford to fund extra bus services. This wasn't the case until Austerity came along.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

So it isn't a national policy then, unlike say motorway speed limits or indeed the qualifying age for the state pension. As you say it's devolved. Which leads me on to ...


Yes I have complained. Brighton Council (the political hue doesn't matter) built a private company a private road network. As we know from the railways the Go-Ahead Group aren't the slightest bit interested in providing transport solutions - they exist to make a profit for their shareholders. Brighton Council have done NOTHING to protect the interests of Brighton residents or visitors. Every time the bus company jack up the unregulated fares they just shrug their shoulders and say "Nothing we can do". More progressive and caring councils (such as Bradford) provide cheap or free buses - although I believe Bradford have now started charging a flat £1 fee (which is still a lot less than we pay).

The fact I'm pissed off by Go-Ahead's blatant profiteering and our compliant, spineless, dont-give-a-shit council doesn't mean I don't know the difference between local and nationally-controlled policies.

Most of the funding for bus lanes came from a central government grant that Brighton & Hove City Council were successful in bidding for.

If the grant hadn't come to Brighton, it would have been spent on bus schemes somewhere else.

The fact that the bus company benefits from the operational efficiency improvements that bus lanes bring is one of the reasons that B&H Buses have been able to improve the frequency of services, increase patronage (unlike almost every other city in Britain, outside London) and run unsubsidized night buses. These improvements form part of a partnership agreement between the council and the bus company that wouldn't be in place if the bus lanes hadn't been built.

The rules about bus partnership agreements currently exclude the possibility that fares might be reduced through such an agreement. These rules regularly get reviewed, but change is constantly being resisted by some councils and some bus companies.

 

[Albion my Albion]

I have the same problem.....my state pension kicks in at 66 and my wife's at 67 but she is 3 years younger, so I will be at least 70 before her state kicks in.

I thought I would be dead before BHA reached the Premier League. Unfortunately for most of you it didn't happen that way but most can still be happy about it. Sometimes you got to wait for your rewards and sometimes you don't.

The problems that come with marrying a younger woman can be exhausting.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

And we are paying for it !

I paid in for 45 years, so I think I'm entitled to it now. Since I turned 60, I have developed thyroid problems, so I would have had all my medication free no matter my age.

 

[Brighton Mod]

A few days ago I turned 60. Obviously now my slow slide towards decrepitude and death will accelerate considerably, and I was rather hoping to get some freebies to take my mind off it. With that in mind I thought I'd try and get a free bus pass, and I discovered the following iniquitous inequality. In Scotland: you get a bus pass when you're 60. In Wales: you get a bus pass when you're 60. In Northern Ireland: you get a bus pass when you're 60. In London: you get a bus pass when you're 60. In Brighton .... you've got to wait until you're sixty ****ing six!

Where's the justice in that? How long are we English OAPs going to be treated as second-class UK citizens? Why does Brighton hate old people?

I'm off to man the barricades just as soon as I've been to the lavatory. If someone could bring me some cheese sandwiches and a nice flask of tea that would be great.

Get on the phone to that caring woman Caroline, oh sorry she doesn't come from Brighton like most of her supporters. Unlucky, you better hope you live another six years and just suck it up in the meantime. At least the recyclings sorted out in Brighton, or is it?

 

[Cheshire Cat]

State pensionable age here so it will be sixty ******ing seven.

I could be dead before then.

There again, there won't be any buses left by that time.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Most of the funding for bus lanes came from a central government grant that Brighton & Hove City Council were successful in bidding for.

If the grant hadn't come to Brighton, it would have been spent on bus schemes somewhere else.

The fact that the bus company benefits from the operational efficiency improvements that bus lanes bring is one of the reasons that B&H Buses have been able to improve the frequency of services, increase patronage (unlike almost every other city in Britain, outside London) and run unsubsidized night buses. These improvements form part of a partnership agreement between the council and the bus company that wouldn't be in place if the bus lanes hadn't been built.

The rules about bus partnership agreements currently exclude the possibility that fares might be reduced through such an agreement. These rules regularly get reviewed, but change is constantly being resisted by some councils and some bus companies.

Bus lanes are great big con. All they do is clog up every other lane, because nobody can get past the damn things driving at a steady 20mph and stopping every 100 yards, so everyone has to use the outside lane. And as for taxis....

 

[The Large One]

Get on the phone to that caring woman Caroline, oh sorry she doesn't come from Brighton like most of her supporters. Unlucky, you better hope you live another six years and just suck it up in the meantime. At least the recyclings sorted out in Brighton, or is it?

What an irrelevant post; it doesn't cover any of his whining.

Whining, incidentally, which has now been established is totally at the wrong people.

 

[The Large One]

Bus lanes are great big con. All they do is clog up every other lane, because nobody can get past the damn things driving at a steady 20mph and stopping every 100 yards, so everyone has to use the outside lane. And as for taxis....

No they're not.

It's cars driving in non-car thoroughfares that clog up the streets. Southbound London Road, for example.

 

[Brovion]

Most of the funding for bus lanes came from a central government grant that Brighton & Hove City Council were successful in bidding for.

If the grant hadn't come to Brighton, it would have been spent on bus schemes somewhere else.

The fact that the bus company benefits from the operational efficiency improvements that bus lanes bring is one of the reasons that B&H Buses have been able to improve the frequency of services, increase patronage (unlike almost every other city in Britain, outside London) and run unsubsidized night buses. These improvements form part of a partnership agreement between the council and the bus company that wouldn't be in place if the bus lanes hadn't been built.

The rules about bus partnership agreements currently exclude the possibility that fares might be reduced through such an agreement. These rules regularly get reviewed, but change is constantly being resisted by some councils and some bus companies.

I'm aware of most of that, it doesn't invalidate my point though - and it certainly doesn't invalidate my original point that English people outside London are treated worse than they are in the rest of the UK.

There is one point I wasn't aware of though - I didn't know that bus patronage was really only increasing in Brighton and London. Given the ever-increasing population I'm surprised at that - but with that being the case I'd have thought that GoAhead might have wanted to give something back to the city. That's a silly idealistic thought of course: they're a capitalist organisation, and all the while they've got a nice captive affluent market they're going to milk it for as much as they can.

 

[Brovion]

What an irrelevant post; it doesn't cover any of his whining.

Whining, incidentally, which has now been established is totally at the wrong people.

Eh? Hope you don't mean my whining, which we've established is at the RIGHT people. See Lord Bracknell's posts.

 

[The Large One]

I'm aware of most of that, it doesn't invalidate my point though - and it certainly doesn't invalidate my original point that English people outside London are treated worse than they are in the rest of the UK.

It doesn't invalidate your general whinging, but it does invalidate the original target of your whinging, whom you presumed, without bothering to find out, was specifically Brighton & Hove City Council.

I didn't know for sure, but it took me 20 seconds to find the answer - 15 of which because I have a bit of sluggish computer.

Eh? Hope you don't mean my whining, which we've established is at the RIGHT people. See Lord Bracknell's posts.

No, you said 'In Brighton, it's 66..." By inference, that means Brighton & Hove City Council. What you really meant was 'the UK government'.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

No they're not.

It's cars driving in non-car thoroughfares that clog up the streets. Southbound London Road, for example.

You clearly have never suffered the Runcorn bridge at rush hour - one bus lane completely empty (except for aforesaid b*st**d taxis), only other lane backed up in a three mile queue - every day!!!!!!

 

[portslade seagull]

Good to see 2017 and all current affairs has passed you by.

1. The Greens aren't in control of the city.
2. Lots of people want people to cycle everywhere, not just Green voters.
3. The buses are being converted to hybrid and/or electric, and some are even solar powered.
4. Brovion, not for the first time, is blaming national policy on local government. And so are you.

Aside from that, outstanding.

Don't see many cyclists to tell the truth, most lanes seem to be empty. Mind you most still seem to ride on the pavement even when there is a cycle lane just inches to the side