Fears over Freedom Pass Changes

With planned changes to the Kent Freedom Pass to be discussed by KCC on 13-12-13, there are a number of questions that need to be answered. The changes, which would be reviewed after a period of six months, would result in the introduction of a smartcard scheme for students between the ages of 11 and 19, with 11-16 year olds receiving £350 worth of bus travel for £100 and 16-19 year olds receiving £250 worth of bus travel for £100. The current scheme offers free unlimited travel to 11-16 year olds for £100 and a recent campaign has called for this to be extended to 16-19 year olds.

There seems to be a dual premise for the changes. Firstly KCC is cutting non-statutory services as part of cost saving measures. The Freedom Pass is not required to exist by law, so KCC feel no compulsion to keep it in its current form. Secondly, KCC have belatedly recognised that extending the Freedom Pass to 16-19 year olds would be a popular move, especially since the removal of EMA, but are unwilling to do so at a net cost. Unfortunately their proposed solution raises more questions than it answers.

Firstly, would the scheme penalise users who travel further due to living in the countryside or having passed the Kent Test? It hardly seems fair that people living in more rural areas could find that less of their school travel is subsidised than compatriots that live in or close to urban areas. This would penalise students living on the Romney Marsh compared with students living in the East end of Folkestone for example. A solution to this is to offer the tickets at a flat rate. Such a flat rate would however beg the question, why not simply lower the overall cost of a year's travel to £350?

Would the scheme allow users to purchase discount tickets such as weekly or monthly tickets is another question of note. The current cost of weekly adult tickets is rarely any lower than the cost of daily child tickets, but child tickets aren't currently available before 9am. The standard Stagecoach smartcard allows you to pay monthly for a season ticket at £76 per month. Such a ticket represents a cost of approximately £3.80 per school day. This is marginally more expensive than a child explorer ticket, but if taken across the average month it costs £2.53 per day making it the best value option.

What would be the process for reducing lost or stolen tickets is another pertinent question. Would this, unlike the standard Stagecoach smartcards for example, be a photocard ticket? A standard smartcard ticket, as supplied by Stagecoach, could be a very easy thing to abuse and could encourage a spate of thefts if there's no way to link it to the specific child who needs to use it. If the new system is somehow a merger of the photocard and smartcard it leads to the question, why is this not currently an option for adults? The cost of replacement tickets is also worthy of scrutiny.

Something that doesn't seem to be mentioned at all in the parts of the KCC document pertaining to the new scheme is those receiving free school meals and looked after children. Would KCC retain the discount for children in these groups? Would this discount be extended to the 16-19 year old bus users covered by the new scheme? Would there be an additional amount put onto the smartcard for users in this group to reflect their differing levels of financial need? All pertinent questions that would need to be answered before introducing the scheme.

Another question about the new scheme is what actions are Stagecoach, and other local bus companies, taking to ease the burden on parents? There are currently no child tickets available before 9am and no child season tickets on Stagecoach buses. A child's pay monthly ticket, at half the cost of an adult ticket could cost £456 per year. If the £350 smartcard were in use for buying such tickets, this would represent an upfront cost to parents of £100 with a monthly cost of £8.83 on top. This isn't as good as £100 per year, but it isn't as bad as what is likely to occur as it stands.

Of course, this also leads to the question, when should children be counted as adults? The current cut-off age on Stagecoach buses is fifteen, with sixteen year olds paying full fares. Compulsory education and training is however in the process of being extended to 18 year olds and the freedom pass is being extended to 19 year olds. Should Stagecoach and other bus companies locally therefore not extend their child fares to 16-19 year olds in order to be seen to be fair to all. Such a move would be good for parents, young people, and good for their own public relations.

Yet another question that comes to mind is would there be any plans to extend the scheme to primary age children? KCC appears to have finally accepted the argument that those in post-16 education deserve a slice of the proverbial pie. Currently, however, anyone under the age of eleven is expected to pay full fare to go to school despite being accompanied by a fare paying adult in nearly all cases. This hardly seems a fair way to do things. Whilst it would reduce the saving made by KCC, such a move would no doubt be very popular.

The final question, and the most vital, is why are KCC expecting parents to shoulder yet another burden? All too often we forget that compulsory education exists precisely because it produces a net benefit to society as well as the individual. Given that everyone in society benefits from an educated populace, it seems unfair that the cost isn't borne by everyone. Not having children, doesn't mean not benefiting. Shouldering the cost of education related public transport is something we should be happy to do, and is something that should be national as it is for HE in the Netherlands.

The document to be considered by KCC Cllrs on 13-12-13 can be accessed at: https://democracy.kent.gov.uk/documents/s44077/B1%20-%20Freedom%20Pass.pdf