Annex A
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR EXTENDING CONCESSIONARY
FARES ACROSS LOCAL AUTHORITY BOUNDARIES AND WIDENED TO INCLUDE
COMMUNITY TRANSPORT SERVICES
Research commissioned by DPTAC showed that bus
frequency and accessibility were the most important factors if
disabled people are to make more use of buses. It follows that
any statutory concessionary fares scheme can only significantly
improve disabled people's access to transport in areas with a
frequent service, served by vehicles that are accessible to them.
Buses that comply with the Public Service Vehicle Accessibility
Regulation (PSVAR) do not need to be fitted with audio/visual
announcements, and this continues to exclude many people with
visual or hearing impairments so we do not consider PSVAR-compliant
buses to be fully accessible. It is estimated that 50% of bus
services are accessible to passengers who use wheelchairs (100%
in London) and that many routes throughout England are still served
by older and even less accessible vehicles. The situation in rural
areas is worse as, not only are the buses not accessible to people
in wheelchairs, but services tend to be very limited.
Community transport (including dial-a-ride)
is provided locally to bridge this service gap. However, people
using these services will pay more than for a comparable bus journey.
Making accessible transport available improves social inclusion,
including access to health, education and increases job opportunities.
Cranfield University demonstrated the cost benefits to health
and social services through the provision of appropriate, affordable
transport, when the report was published the savings were between
£256 million and £1.1 billion.
Whilst there is a need for community transport
to be part of the concessionary fares scheme, under the current
financial arrangements via local authorities many are unable to
participate. The Government's announcement last year to increase
funds to local authorities to increase concessions locally does
not currently include community transport. It is estimated that
to extend free travel to community transport across England local
authorities will need an additional £22 million.
DPTAC urges the Government to consider this
important issue whilst the review of concessionary fares is being
undertaken for England.
May 2006
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