More than 40,000 people in the West Midlands are saving money and getting more mobile since free travel was introduced for everyone over 60 years old.

Three months since the launch of the scheme, public transport promoter Centro has revealed the take-up rate for the new off-peak travel passes.

Staff at Centro’s Birmingham offices to cope with a flood of enquiries, including 1800 phone calls in one day.  They also had to cope with a real flood during the deluge of last week’s storms.

The passes give free off-peak travel on bus, train and Midland Metro services across the West Midlands county.  Councillors on the West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority introduced the scheme in July, nine months ahead of a national scheme announced in Gordon Brown’s budget.  The West Midlands offer is also more generous as it covers all forms of public transport, not just bus travel.

“It has been PTA policy in the past to make concessions widely available and we want to get more people, of all ages, using public transport.  That is the greatest hope we have in the region’s campaign to cut congestion,” said Authority chairman Cllr Gary Clarke.

Public transport bosses believe the offer of free travel – and its earlier introduction locally – may tempt more people to travel by bus, train and tram.  Statistics due to be published in full next month show an increase of more than one million journeys a year by people using senior citizens passes in the West Midlands.

Across the UK, take-up of concessionary passes has declined in recent years to the extent that in 2003 less than half of all pensioners bothered to apply for a ‘bus pass’.  Higher levels of car ownership and the fact that people have remained healthier in their old age are considered the main factors behind the decline.