Whenever South Kesteven District Council discusses bus pass concessions, why does it consistently separate bus pass travellers from the wider population? We all pay council tax.
Bus pass holders pay to travel before 9.30am, they pay council tax, and their taxes have helped to fund the government grant for new national passes and concessionary bus travel.
Why, with two years' notice, did our district council not compile t
he concessionary travel data of 2006/07 when preparing the budget, and prior to the launch of the national bus pass scheme?
It would have been less costly.
Although the old bus passes only qualified for free travel in the district, journeys prior to 9.30 were recorded by the bus companies as far as the district borders; as were journeys on the Kimes Bourne-Lincoln service.
Currently pass holders pay the full single fare to travel before 9.30am (no data) on weekdays (£2.50 Bourne-Peterborough). The district council then pays the full single fare for the return journey (£3 Lincoln-Bourne).
The district council is clearly failing in its aim to deliver the best possible service for disabled and elderly bus travellers.
As is Coun Nick Craft, (Letters last week) who is "here to represent all members of our community and to get the best value for money from all our services".
The only people who are benefitting from our taxes and the district council's delay in lifting time-restrictions on travel are the bus companies.
JOYCE STEVENSON
Obthorpe Lane,
Thurlby
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