All elderly and disabled people will be able to get free travel on buses, trains and trams in the West Midlands from next month.
Public transport promoter Centro-PTA has announced that an improved concessions scheme will start on 24 July. After that date anyone over 60 years old living in the West Midlands county, or who meets standard disability criteria, will qualify for a free off-peak travel pass.
“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.
Chancellor Gordon Brown announced in his Budget that free off-peak local bus travel would be offered across England from next April. At the time of the Budget, Cllr Clarke and PTA vice-chair Cllr Paul Allen had already pledged that any free travel scheme in the West Midlands should apply to all modes of transport.
“The Chancellor may have used the phrase ‘bus pass’ – but we believe strongly in an integrated public transport system, so it is vital that passes are equally valid on rail and Metro services,” Cllr Clarke said.
In the West Midlands, where a generous concessions scheme paid for by city and borough councils already existed, the move effectively lowers the age limit for free travel from 65 to 60 years old. People aged 60 to 64 and disabled people, who currently have a Centro pass for subsidised half-fare travel, will be sent a new one automatically.
Making the free travel passes available earlier is expected to cost the West Midlands around £3m, which the PTA hopes to recover from next year’s payments.
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. 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.
For public information about the concessions and how to apply (including a downloadable application form), please visit the main Centro website (www.centro.org.uk) or to go straight to the relevant page, click here
