£45m saving of bus pass rise: Cost of current set up revealed amid claims SNP is ‘failing passengers’

INCREASING the age at which people qualify for a free bus pass in Scotland would save the country £45 million a year.

Earlier this year The Sunday Post revealed how the Scottish Government is planning to increase the eligibility age for the popular concessionary travel scheme.

It is expected this will see the minimum age rise from 60 to 65 with current pass-holders unaffected.

Figures released under freedom of information laws show that last year £45m of the £187.7m spent on the free bus pass scheme was accounted for by users in the 60 to 64 age bracket.

Around one in five holders of the free bus pass are between the ages of 60 and 64, with many of them working commuters.

Meanwhile, a new poll has revealed the majority of older Scots have backed the age increase.

Scottish Labour’s transport spokesman Neil Bibby MSP said: “The SNP is failing passengers up and down the country.

“Under the nationalists, vital services have been cut while ticket prices have gone up. Communities have been left stranded as key routes have been scrapped.

“It was a Labour-led administration that first introduced the free bus pass for over-60s.

“The SNP promised to protect the bus pass but now it seems thousands of older people could miss out.

“The bus pass is a lifeline for many older people and, in cutting it, the SNP would again break its word.”

Figures released by Transport Scotland show that 131,604 male free bus pass holders in Scotland are aged 60 to 65, while there are 99,501 female pass holders between the age of 60 and 63. This is around 20% of the cardholder population.

Of the £187.7m reimbursed to bus firms in 2015/16 for accepting the free pass, Transport Scotland said the amount spent on journeys undertaken by 60 to 64-year-old “was in the region of £45m”. That £45m accounts for 1.5% of the annual £3bn transport budget.

A public consultation on the future of the free bus pass will get under way after May’s council elections. The scheme for the over-60s and disabled costs around £187m a year – nearly a third more than it did when it was launched 11 years ago.

Earlier this month, the SNP’s Transport Minister Humza Yousaf revealed plans for the biggest shake-up of the sector since Margaret Thatcher’s programme of deregulation in the 1980s.

In the face of plummeting passenger numbers and soaring fares, the move would see councils given the power to introduce railway-style franchise deals.

A new Transport Bill will let councils establish Lothian Buses-style municipal bus companies, allowing public versus private bidding wars for newly-franchised routes.

Important but unprofitable services could be saved by being bundled with more popular routes in franchise deals.The legislation will also force operators to publish standardised information on fares, timetables and – crucially – punctuality.

A Transport Scotland spokesman said: “The National Concessionary Travel Scheme has proved hugely beneficial, and popular, but we have to ensure it is sustainable in the long-term.

“We will be consulting with stakeholders on ways to protect the long-term sustainability of the NCTS and on our plans to extend free bus travel to young modern apprentices.”