Story One, A Bus Pass

This is the English Bus Pass. It replaced all the local passes that were used before April 01 this year. Due to a problem at the printers which does not seem to be resolved some passes were not issued on time. To overcome this problem temporary passes were issued to be used in conjunction with the old passes but if you have been issued with a new pass please either throw the old one away or put it in a cupboard and forget about it. It is as much use as a 1945 Ration book. Maybe in 50 years time some collectors of ancient memorabilia will pay good money for an old bus pass but don't hold your breath. The reason I give this advice is to prevent incidents like the one that upset my day today from happening.

Four passengers boarded the bus and the lead passenger said, "Four with passes to Babbacombe, please." Actually he might not have said please but lets be generous. Before issuing the tickets I waited till each person had shown me their pass. A wise move, one of the passes was an old local authority pass with no sign of a temporary pass to go with it. I pointed out that the pass was not acceptable for travel in Torquay. The person said why not. I explained it wasn't the new style English pass like the other three. She said it was. I said it wasn't and pointed at her pass and one of the other passes. Not the same. Two of the passengers then demanded to know if their passes were acceptable. I reassured them that they were. The person, female, then assured me she had used the pass on the way down, (this statement is important later in the story). She then made to get off the bus but the fact that it was raining made her change her mind and one of the other passengers paid her fare, £1.50. First he put down 35 pence and said "I need an other penny." The penny was found eventually and added to the 35p. £1.14 short of the fare. I did mention that it was raining. There was a queue outside the bus getting wet but our heroes weren't rushing. I carefully explained the money tendered was short by £1.14. A further discussion followed as to whether the next bus driver might accept the pass. I knew he wouldn't because if they did get off my bus every bus driver in town would know one of these four didn't have the correct pass. About 5 seconds after they got off, but they didn't get off, shame. Anyway, finally, a total of £1.55 was placed in the cash tray and I carefully returned the extra 5p. The rest of the passengers boarded and off we went. When we got to Babbacombe episode two took place. One of the four stood on the platform and stated that on the way down the driver had only charged £1.25 and I had charged £1.55. He wasn't pleasant about it but I just smiled sweetly and expressed the wish that they, "All have a good day now."

Now I hadn't charged £1.55 even though the gave me £1.55, remember I gave 5p back, and the driver could not have charged £1.25 on the way down as there isn't a £1.25 fare anywhere on that section of the route. It's either £1.50 or £1.45 or 70p. But hang on a moment, didn't the female passenger with the worthless pass say she had used it on the way down? Yes she did. So how could she have been charged £1.25 to get down? Another of life's little mysteries.

I do love my job.

Bus Passes. What Exactly Did You Expect?

FEARS GROW OVER FREE BUS PASSES BURDEN

From The Herald Express

BY TINA CROWSON AND GLENN PRICE
30 May 2008

Torbay Council fears it could be facing a financial crisis as more pensioners are taking to the buses.The numbers of over 60s taking advantage of the national free bus pass scheme is rising at an alarming rate.Deputy mayor Kevin Carroll, pictured, fears the extra numbers will hit the council's already cash-strapped budget even harder.Torbay Council already has to find £3million to fund the scheme this year.

But the authority has reported a jump of 1,500 in the number of passes issued to the over 60s in the last two months alone on top of the 27,500 issued in April.This could leave the authority picking up a larger than anticipated bill for over 60s passengers.Mr Carroll said: "At the beginning of April we had issued 27,500 bus passes, but in the past two months that has gone up to 29,000."In total some 38,000 pensioners in Torbay are eligible for passes and if they all took them up I don't know what we would do."It is already a massive burden for the council tax payer."Our budget for bus passes is currently £3.98million, towards which the government gives us just under £1million."We don't yet know how much the extra passes are going to cost us in extra journeys. It's a real worry.

"We worry about if the increase in people carries on, we could be storing up a terrible financial problem."If the situation gets too bad, we will have to go to the Government and say 'you pay it'."It's a stealth tax. Why should the people of Torbay pick up the bill? It's impossible to budget for."South Devon councils pay an agreed rate per pensioner per journey to Stagecoach.Journeys are billed to the authority where each one starts.But if more and more over 60s are taking to the buses to travel, authorities could be facing a much larger bill than anticipated.

South Devon councils and Stagecoach are already creaking under the strain.Stagecoach say the extra bill could run into hundreds of thousands of pounds for Torbay Council alone.Bus drivers record all the journeys taken using the bus passes and then the 'bill' is passed on to the relevant local authorities.Each journey is billed per person not for how far they travel.The cost is passed on to each council, either on a monthly or quarterly basis and is a rate which has been agreed on an annual basis.

There is no option to raise the price paid by authorities for concessionary fare passengers.Stagecoach says it is not receiving sufficient money to pay for the journeys.However, the rate is agreed on an annual basis, worked out as a percentage of an average journey by an adult.And Torbay, Teignbridge and the South Hams will also have to pick up the tab this summer for holidaymakers with passes from other areas who are now able to use them on local buses.

The issue, described by Mayor Nick Bye as a 'huge sword of Damocles', will be raised with South West Government minister Ben Bradshaw when he visits the resort next month.Mr Carroll added: "Any journey originating in Torbay we have to pay for."With diesel reaching nearly £1.30 a litre, you can understand when people decide to use the bus, especially with other prices going up."

Operations director for Stagecoach Devon, Richard Stevens, said they were expecting the numbers to increase above predictions, and the cost."It's not just a question of the additional bus users from Torbay, but those who will use the bus while on holiday in Torbay. I wouldn't be surprised if the extra cost above budget for Torbay could run into hundreds of thousands of pounds."
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As usual, Government are not providing enough money to run the scheme. I am sure not enough thought was given to the whole idea in the first place and we will end up paying in the end.

Teignmouth, three times in one day.

A couple of photos taken in Teignmouth today. The bus was the one I used on my first trip up there. I have to admit it was easier driving this small bus along the not exactly wide road between Torquay and Teignmouth but it has a limited carrying capacity. Fortunately we are not fully into the summer season yet so I managed OK. The destination blind could be a bit more informative. A holiday maker in Teignmouth is unlikely to know where Roselands is but might like to know that the bus is going to Torquay. I know they could ask but some tourists are reluctant to ask bus drivers questions due to the reaction they get back home. Down here we do try to be helpful but I have been told by visitors from some places that asking a bus driver a question is about a safe as burning the garden rubbish using an ex army flame thrower. We are due to get some larger buses on loan, usual practice in the summer so these Mercs should not be making too many more trips up the coast.

One item I heard on the bus radio today was about carer passes. We used to allow travel around Torbay to a person travelling with a disabled traveller but this concession is not included in the Government funding so Torbay reluctantly withdrew this facility. Some, richer, local authorities do fund carer passes but only in their own area. So down here the carer has to pay. An other driver had a little difficulty getting this message across to the holder of a carers pass from an other town and the driver had to delay the bus while she used the radio to contact control and asked them to confirm the situation. When you get your first mobile phone most people read the instruction book carefully, when you move on to your tenth mobile phone the instruction book gets thrown in a draw with hardly a look. Concessionary Passes are new, it's your first one, at least glance in the direction of the rules. Also I have been surprised over the last few weeks how many visitors have got on the bus and said they have a pass but left it at home because they didn't know they could use it in Torbay. A costly mistake but one that leaves more money in the pot for those who do bring their passes with them. A resident of Teignmouth who couldn't care less about buses or bus passes. All he cares about is flying and will the visitors feed him?

Bus Passes or Lack of Them

Yesterday in Torquay a couple boarded the bus, the female half approached me as if I was her new best friend. This attitude didn't last however. She asked me if they needed to show their passes. "Yes," said I. Well I would wouldn't I. She changed instantly to my new worst enemy. "Well I haven't got mine," short pause, "and neither has my husband." I told her they would have to pay and she snarled ( maybe that's too stronger word but it is the closest I can get at the moment) "Paignton. Singles." and headed down the bus. Husband slapped a fiver down on the cash try which I grabbed quickly. Two single tickets for Paignton emerged from the ticket machine. "Four pounds fifty please." and carefully placed the change in the cash try and expressed a wish that they would both have a nice day.

Isn't driving a bus wonderful?

Bus Pass Time Bomb.

Monday. Two passengers, husband and wife board the bus on the Strand. He asks me can they use their passes to obtain concessionary travel on this bus. “Yes”, says I, but something made me add, “Provided they are the correct passes.” Two Welsh passes were presented. “No. Sorry. You can not use them in England.” Passengers get off the bus and walk away.
Today. Two more passengers, who could even have been the same passengers from Monday board the bus. He shows me the Welsh passes and asks for Paignton. I explain that Welsh passes cannot be used in England. He pays the fare, she says, as they walk down the bus, “That’s the 5th bus driver to tell you that. Now will you believe me?”

Right. Let me make something clear now. I know I said I would only mention Bus Passes in passing but what is seen by myself and other bus drivers as a little bit of a joke at the moment could be a gently ticking time bomb for places like Torquay. We rely heavily on visitors. Most of our summer visitors, not counting the foreign language students, are from other places in the UK. That includes Wales, Scotland and to a smaller extent Ireland. But these visitors cannot use their bus passes in England. Already over the last few days I have had to refuse passes from Wales, so far none from Scotland but later in the summer we do get a fairly large contingent down from north of the border, we even have Scottish Bank notes on display in the Pay In room at the depot so we know what they look like. But if they cannot use their passes here in England there could be a danger they will not make the trip to Torquay and other English resorts. Similarly English tourists will not venture over the Welsh or Scottish boarder for the same reason. The Euro is strong at the moment so people are thinking less of holidaying in Europe so we should benefit from more people in the UK staying in the UK for their holidays. Torquay, being the type of resort it is, attracts the more mature visitor and is a resort that, by it’s size and geography does tend to make bus trips an important part of the holiday. But the basic unfairness of people over 60 from England getting free bus rides with the Welsh and Scottish over sixties having to pay might make them reluctant to leave their own country for holidays in the future. Result, less visitors to Torquay.



Please Mr Brown, I know you read this blog, could you give this matter some thought and make the above pass and the Welsh passes valid anywhere in the UK. And quickly.

Just a mention, we have been without road works for the last week or so. So Devon County Council came up with a great idea. In the middle of the afternoon they closed a lane at Penn Inn. The left hand lane of 3. Chaos. Instantaneous Chaos.

Sorry, More on Bus pass.

No good in England.

This is a Welsh Concessionary Travel Pass, or to put it an other way a Cerdyn Teithio Rhatach and it can only be used in England provided it is used where bus services make cross border trips into England from the Land of Their Fathers and the local authorities have come to an arrangement to accept these pass on such trips. By no stretch of the imagination can Devon be said to have a border with Wales and I am sure without even asking that neither Torbay nor Devon County Council have any cross border arrangements with the Welsh Assembly.

I make this statement because yesterday on the radio there were several calls from drivers asking if the Welsh Bus Pass can be used on our buses here in Devon. The answer was always NO. Now it wasn't as if these drivers didn't know the answer but sometimes when you tell someone they can not use a pass or ticket the passenger doesn't believe you, or to be more blunt, hopes you wont be bothered trying the radio and will let them travel. Or mabe has never heard of radios. So time has to be spent contacting control and asking them a question we all know the answer to just so some doubting Dylan can hear a voice of authority coming out of a loud speaker telling them exactly what the poor bus driver has probably told them twice already and almost certainly the passenger knew also.

The other thing that happened yesterday was that British Telecom are yet again spending time down a hole in the road in Churston and temporary traffic lights were once again in place. The hole in the road is full of Hi Tech Telecom equipment (or maybe a couple of computer games) and the engineers have been playing down there for about 6 weeks now, seems to be taking them a long time to get it right. I hope you haven't been trying to make a phone call in the Churston area. Information I have received suggests at least an other two weeks will be required before they move somewhere else and make lots of other drivers' lives a misery. Going into Brixham the queue at the lights is 100 yards long, coming out it can be a mile long. You know, the usual arrangment at temporary traffic lights. No attempt has ever been made to even things up a little. So buses run late through no fault of our's and we get shouted at, people would think we like running late. Well we don't, it makes life harder for us and we, like our passengers end up getting home late to dinners that have spent an hour going round in a microwave in a sad attempt to keep them warm and edible.

Carer Passes

Carers Allowance.

The weekly rate is £48.65. This is reduced by the amount of certain other benefits, including State Pension, that you receive. If you receive certain other benefits at £48.65 or more a week, Carer's Allowance cannot be paid to you as well.

Just so you know what a carer gets. This is paid to someone ( A Carer) who looks someone, usually a family member who is disabled to the point of being unable to look after themselves.

From my point of view as a bus driver a carer used to be someone who travelled on a bus with a person who was so disabled as to make it impossible for them to take a bus ride unattended. This disability could be either physical or mental. I say ‘used to be’ because now the Government has decided that carers do not come in the "Core Validity" of Concessionary Bus Passes. The core validity only covers people who are over 60 years of age or are disabled.

Most people who get on a bus and have a pass because they are disabled can do so with little or no problem, indeed many are on their way to or from work. But, and to quote just one example, the young lad who boards the bus in a wheel chair needs a carer with him as he is unable to propel his wheel chair and unable to communicate his needs. He does very much enjoy his trips out on the bus. However the carer who assists him on his trips no longer gets free travel and has to pay the bus fare. Bus fares are not exactly cheap especially if your total income is £48.65. For this carer, a return trip to the town centre is £2.40 which represents 5% of her income. That’s 5% of income spent on one short bus trip, a longer trip say to Brixham and back would be nearly 9%. So while the disabled person can make as many trips as they like for free the carer is severely restricted in the number she/he can. So there is little point in Central Government (the caring government) going to the expense of giving the severely disabled bus passes as they will not be able to use them.

Now as a bus driver I used to see carer passes very rarely, 2 a month would be a lot and I do know that up to February this year Torbay Council had issued less than 200 carer passes. Not because Torbay Council are mean, tight fisted, uncaring sods, it’s just that there are not that many people who need carer passes. Based on the figure of 200 carer passes out of a total of over 30 000 concessionary passes this means 0.7% of passes were carer passes. Out of the total cost for bus passes of one billion pounds carer passes would have cost Central Government an extra £7 million. Now £7 million sounds a lot, give me 7 million quid and this blog would be renamed ‘No longer Busdriving’ about 15 seconds later but to Central Government it is a less than a day in the War in Iran. To disabled people who can not make bus trips on their own it is a life time stuck indoors while life and the buses pass by without an apparent care, or carer, on board.

If you live in the UK please email your MP and ask him to speak to Gordon Brown about extending carer passes into the Core Validity of Concessionary Bus Passes.
Please note; Don't just copy this post and send it to your MP as it will simply get blocked.
Click here for your MP's name and email address
Also finds your local councilor.

At Last.

Well, it's arrived, only 5 days late. So eager to try it out I went down to Fleet Street to catch a bus up to St Marychurch, The driver looked at my pass when I said Marychurch and looked at me and said,"You're having a laugh ain't you." and registered me as a Staff Pass. Failed at the first hurdle, still never mind I can try on the way back. So I waited with pass in hand for a 32 but when it came there were several people waiting and the driver looked busy so to save time I showed him my staff pass, no ticket to issue. So I still don't know if it works.

It IS Rocket Science!

OK, OK, I did say I wasn't going to talk about bus passes again but here goes. I was talking to our Managing Director on Wednesday and he was trying to explain how the system worked regarding how the bus companies got paid. He probably did a good job but in the end I decided that I was glad all I have to do is press a couple of buttons and smile sweetly at the passengers as they take their tickets. Mentioning tickets; one thing I have noticed is some passengers just showed the pass and walked down the bus, obviously at home they don't need to tell the driver where they are going or get a ticket which they do down here. Something to do with statistics.

One little calculation I did do that definitely isn't rocket science was 11 million into £1 billion equals £90.90 . That is 11 million passes issued Nationwide and £1 billion cash per year to fund the scheme. The £90.90 is the spend per pass per year, that's £1.75 per week. That's one return trip out for an OAP every eight days. OK I know not everyone over 60 will use their pass, I don't expect Liz and Phil will do much travelling by bus but there are determined people out there who will make up for the Queen's failure to enjoy her free bus travel.

Day One of Bus Passes

I got on the bus to go to work and asked the driver how it was going. He said 17 words, sixteen of which were swear words. So I guessed it wasn't going too well. I feared the worst. And what happened when I got out on the road myself? Not much. The biggest excitement of the day was when a couple got on with the new pass and I looked to see where they were from. Rotherham, Gateshead, Grimsby, Morecombe, Poole, Knott End, Whitehaven, Basingstoke? All these places I know or have at least visited but Centro. Where the bloody hell is Centro. I mean who would call a town Centro and if they did surely I would have heard of it?

OK; if that isn't bad enough then those with long enough memories will also have heard of Selnec the bus company with the worst ever colour scheme. I personally believe they bought ten thousand tins of different coloured paint and mixed to lot and got a new colour; Vomit.

Anyway I digress. I have taken less money than today's effort but only when I have spent about half the duty broken down ( back in the old days when we did occasionally break down). It seemed everyone decided to come out and try out their new passes, even those who hadn't actually got their new pass, which was most of them. A council official told me that the new passes were, "in the post." A couple of discrete coughs from me and he added, "or will be any day now."

Actually the delay in the passes is due to Central Government. Instead of letting each local authority produce their own passes, I know Torbay council have the technology to do this so others probably can as well, they insisted that the passes were made at only Authorized Pass Producers and there are only 6 names on the list. Eleven million passes divided by 6 equals 1.84 million passes per printer. That would be like the government saying we could only have six toilet paper suppliers for the whole country. Think about it. Well no, perhaps not.

Anyway, I will only mention bus passes again to let you know when mine does arrive and of course in passing. Oh yeah, I will also have a rant at Central Government any day now about Carers passes when I can find the energy.

New Fares and Free Travel

Most passengers knew the fares were going up and payed up, except for one gentleman who on hearing the new fare declared that he would never travel on a bus again preferring to walk. He then demonstrated his resolve by getting of the bus and walking. If he is true to his word then he will be a very determined ex-passenger because it is a very long walk from Newton Abbot Rail Station to Kingskerswell.

Most of the conversations with passengers yesterday (Mon 31 March) were about concessionary passes. The first took place while I was waiting to catch a bus to work. One lady was worried that her pass was due to run out on the 31st (which all Around Torbay passes were) and she wouldn't be able to travel the next day. I reassured her that we weren't heartless down at the bus company and we would accept the passes until September. Several other passengers were given the same information during the course of the morning. Then at lunch time a new notice had been prepared in response to the millions of fax messages that had been flying round the country about the rules and regulations and last minute decisions being made due to the fact that almost no one had a proper pass (problems at the printers). We would honor the passes only until 13th April, after that they would have to be accompanied by the cardboard temp pass, and of course the person using the pass for us to honor. But I have been reassured that by then everyone will either have the new pass or a temp pass. As yet I have neither.

Passes from outside Devon will have to be either the new pass or an old pass plus cardboard temp pass. Then a couple got on the bus and the husband told me that just before they left the house to catch the train down for a weeks holiday in Torquay the post had arrived with his wife's new pass but not his. So she can have free bus rides around the Bay but he will have to pay. Sad.

PS Please disregard previous post. I have no idea how it got there. Nothing to do with me. Honest.

PPS And if you are at a loss about what to do with your new bus pass here is an idea.

Fare Changes

On Monday March 31 all our single and return tickets increase as does the Day rider. Always a confusing time as many passengers will not have read the notices on the buses which have been there for over two weeks.

Then on Tuesday the National, or should I say English, Concessionary Travel Passes come into operation. These passes, in case you have been on the Moon for the last few weeks allow the over 60s and the eligible disabled free travel after 9:30 on all local buses anywhere in England. Let me start by apologizing to a small group of people I gave incorrect information to.

When the concessionary passes came in they were for use only in the area you lived in and last summer many elderly passengers presented me, and all the other drivers with passes issued outside our area and asked if they could be used, "You will be able to from next April." was the stock reply. Some of the people who asked were from the UK but not from England. Well if you do live in the UK but not in England you can not use your pass in England, sorry but when the scheme was announced two years ago the word National was used to describe it and I assumed, as did most people, that meant the UK but the way devolution is going...........................

I am not sure exactly how many of these English Concessionary passes will be issued but it could be as many as 10 million. So far about 26 actual passes have been issued due to problems at the printers.

None so far in Torbay. To get round this problem we have been told to accept all existing passes issued in Devon and passes issued out side the area provided a cardboard Temporary Pass is also presented. Given that 10 million proper passes should have been printed and only 26 have been printed that means 9 million, nine hundred and ninety nine thousand, nine hundred and seven four temporary passes will have to be printed. Hopefully by a different printer.

I have an Around Torbay Concessionary pass but the cardboard temporary pass hasn't yet arrived and latest estimates are for about ten days. I was planning to go up to Manchester on a family visit at the weekend but the though of having to pay for my bus fares while I am there has put me off. Yes I know Stagecoach are in Manchester but my brother lives in North Manchester which is FirstBus territory.

Just to round of with an observation about ID Cards. The bus passes have the holders name and Photo and the Government have know they would need to issue 10 million of them for two years and haven't managed to get it organised. make no mistake this cock up IS down to Central Government, not local authorities or as I have suggested, the Printers ( sorry printers everywhere). They just didn't seem to understand the numbers involved.

Now ID Cards will hold much more information and 60 Million will need to be issued with safeguards built into the Card to prevent misuse. What chance do they have of issuing all of us here in the UK an ID Card some time this Century? Perhaps they should ask British Airways to run the system for them.

Early Start

Yesterday the alarm went of at 6:20 which is early for me. I usually get up at 8:15 so 6:20 is a strain. Part of the problem is the mind plays little tricks, like worrying I will oversleep. So at 12:17 I woke up and checked I had set the alarm clock. Then at 12:57 and surprise, surprise, also at 1:35, 2:19, 3:45, 4:05 4:11 and finally 6:07 before being finally woken at 6:19 by the cat head butting the bedroom door. During my meal break I was watching the TV in the canteen and while stifling a yawn noted with amusement the newsreader was quoting some road safety person who said if you yawn at the wheel you should pull over and take a rest. Right.
Actually there is not much chance a bus driver will fall asleep at the wheel, there is too much going on, traffic lights, bus stops, taking fares waving to other bus drivers, checking running times, answering questions and so on compared with say a car driver on a motorway staring at the car 10 feet in front while travelling at 70 mph.

Next problem is I woke up this morning at 6:20 as well even though I am not out till gone 10. Could become a habit.

No sign of the new bus passes yet. There is a notice which suggests that it could be as late as September before all over 60s get their pass. I have no idea who has contributed to this delay, Central Government, Local Government or the printers. One thing I do know, it isn't the bus company's fault, you can't blame us for this cock up.

Seen in a Bus Shelter

The country wide bus pass starts in April and this poster in a bus shelter is the first information I have seen anywhere about it. One thing I did notice is it is just country wide and that country is England. No mention of the other three countries that make up The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, more commonly known as the UK. Maybe some civil servant in Whithall knows more about devolution than is letting on.

I can see the odd row developing in the summer when we have to charge visitors from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland but let all the English get on for free. Could that not be considered discrimination?

Anyway, to find out more about the bus passes click here. It's a government site so good luck.