CONCESSIONARY FARES ISSUES IN THE UK

This paper discusses various aspects of concessionary fares schemes, and describes a recent study by the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) to estimate the amount of public transport trip generation by the scheme in the Tyne and Wear conurbation in North East England. It first briefly examines the types of concessionary fares schemes in the UK and their coverage. For many years, many UK local authorities have adopted many different types of scheme, with different eligibility criteria, payment types, concession amounts, and times of day when valid. By the mid-1980s, about 90% of pensioners lived in areas with schemes. The 1985 Transport Act allowed local authorities to subsidise socially desirable but non-commercial bus services. As a result of financial pressures, local authorities are looking more closely at how their schemes operate. In January 1992, there was a major change in the concessionary travel scheme in Tyne and Wear, which has an extensive bus, metro, and rail network. This enabled the TRL to conduct a before-and-after study of travel patterns and public transport use. The paper presents the basic results from travel diaries and forecasts based on reconstructive interviews and tabulates predicted trip rates based on a simple equation. Finally, it discusses differences between different survey methods.

• Corporate Authors:

  TRL

  Crowthorne House, Nine Mile Ride
  Wokingham, Berkshire  United Kingdom  RG40 3GA
• Authors:
  • PAULLEY, N J
  • BALCOMBE, R J
• Publication Date: 1995

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: 21 p.
• Serial:
  • TRL STAFF PAPER PA 3058/95
  • Publisher: TRL

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aged; Before and after studies; Classification; Conferences; Financing; Forecasting; Local government agencies; Policy; Public transit; Tariffs; Travel; Urban areas
• Uncontrolled Terms: Increase
• Geographic Terms: United Kingdom
• ITRD Terms: 9148: Before and after study; 8513: Classification; 8525: Conference; 244: Financing; 132: Forecast; 9032: Increase; 698: Journey; 192: Local authority; 1746: Old people; 173: Policy; 744: Public transport; 241: Tariff; 8119: United Kingdom; 313: Urban area
• Subject Areas: Policy; Public Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00766900
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• Files: ITRD
• Created Date: Aug 2 1999 12:00AM