National Deal on Free Travel?

If you thought things had quietened down regarding April’s national free travel for elderly and disabled people, they just haven’t hit the public domain in quite the same way. Operators remain sceptical, indeed concerned, about the way in which some local authorities reimburse, with examples as low as 40-50p in the pound reimbursement sill common. Time-consuming, costly legal arguments and appeals continue. Free travel along with fuel cost increases continues to be blamed for service cuts and or fares increases.

Some authorities are happy to reimburse at 70-75p. Some of the most heated debates rage within the PTEs, some of whom have offered free travel for years. Pressures are no less great on these larger organisations with lager budges but at least they cover significant areas and populations. Otherwise, large regional bus operators oftentimes find themselves with a multitude of complex schemes with differing rules.

Yesterday’s news that First Group and Stagecoach appear on the verge of striking a three-year deal with its PTEs looks set to introduce some certainty, at least in the city regions. It’s based on a fixed percentage increase over 2007/08 for each of the three years to 2010/11. Both sides win. The PTEs can cap their expenditures while operators have certainty. It avoids appeals.

In London, the scheme is a given. Add the First/Stagecoach PTE deal and this now means that, with London, there’s some certainty regarding just over 40 per cent of England’s population, in areas of frequent bus service usage.

And when you consider the three regional deals in place in the earlier free schemes in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, just over 50 per cent of the UK’s population now lives in an area where operators can be more content with reimbursements.

What next for the remainder? That’s a significant challenge.