Bus shortage is on the way

Transport chiefs have warned MPs that savage cuts will leave pensioners with free bus passes — but few buses to travel on.

A shake-up of the highly-popular national concessionary travel scheme — which means the cash is no longer ring-fenced — will have dramatic consequences, an inquiry was told.

The change means Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive must now rely on district councils to hand over the funding, at the same time as town halls wrestle with cuts of 28 per cent in transport funding.

The issue is crucial because the passenger transport executives in the six biggest urban areas including Greater Manchester receive up to half of their budgets from the scheme.

In evidence to the Commons transport committee, PTEG, which represents the six executives, said: “This could have dramatic consequences.

“Older people in metropolitan areas will end up with a free pass for a quickly vanishing network of services, while young people and children face their concessions being withdrawn.”

That is the reference to the scaling back of free bus passes for students and for journeys to school, by some cash-strapped authorities.

Until now, it had been believed that big cities would escape the worst of the cuts to bus services, which will fall heavily on rural areas and shire counties.

Peter Box, chairman of the Local Government Association’s transport board, predicted angry passengers would punish politicians.

He said: “They will be accountable to the electorate in about six weeks’ time.”