Media campaign against 50% coach fare decision catches fire... ten months late

The Government’s decision to scrap funding for a 50% concessionary fare scheme for the elderly and disabled on long-distance coaches attracted media attention in August – ten months after it was made.

Rik Thomas

09 September 2011

The campaign against the Government’s plans to scrap the 50% concessionary fare scheme for long-distance coach travel was instigated by the country’s largest coach operator, National Express

The Government's decision to end the current, non-statutory arrangements whereby long-distance coach service operators in England can claim BSOG (bus service operator grant) in return for offering a 50% concessionary fare scheme to disabled customers and passengers over 60 (announced in the comprehensive spending review last October) received a somewhat belated burst of publicity in late August. The media’s interest was partly provoked by a joint press release issued by three campaigning...