Concessionary fares and bus operator reimbursement in Scotland and Wales: No better or no worse off?
Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Date
2008
Subject Area
ridership - old people, policy - fares, policy - social exclusion, mode - bus, mode - mass transit
Keywords
Wales, Transit operating agencies, Transit lines, Subsidies, Social inclusion, Senior citizens, Scotland, Public transit lines, Policy analysis, Older people, Old people, Mass transit lines, Intracity bus transportation, Free fares, Fare reimbursements, Elderly persons, Costs, Concessions, Bus transit, Aged
Abstract
Governments in the three constituent countries in Britain--Scotland, Wales and England--have recently introduced much more generous concessionary fares on buses for people of 60 and above, in order to increase "social inclusion"--i.e., to make it easier for people of limited means to access the activities that they want. To this end, in Wales and Scotland, passholders can now travel anywhere at zero fare, while in England, there is a free concession within a more limited area. As the majority of bus services in Britain outside London are operated commercially in a deregulated environment, these operators must be reimbursed for the cost of carrying at least some of the concessionary passengers. The main objective of this paper is to understand how much the concession costs, and whether or not it is a subsidy to operators (public funding that underwrites their costs). The paper draws on research carried out in Wales, for the Welsh Assembly and in Scotland, for the Scottish Executive, to achieve these objectives. It concludes that there are grounds for arguing that these countries' concession schemes are subsidizing operators that there is some limited evidence that the new concessions are promoting social inclusion; but there are still many elderly people for whom the concession is of very limited use since they face barriers to bus use other than cost.
Recommended Citation
Rye, Tom, Carreno, Michael. (2008). Concessionary fares and bus operator reimbursement in Scotland and Wales: No better or no worse off? Transport Policy, Volume 15, Issue 4, pp 242-250.
Comments
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