DEVON'S public transport service needs to shave £760,000 from its budget – and it is looking at removing some of the perks for pensioners provided within the National Bus Pass Scheme.
The county council is currently consulting on the options available which include having pensioners pay to use the park and ride services to the RD&E Hospital and County Hall, as well as the special services to Exeter Chiefs' Sandy Park rugby ground.
If they were also no longer able to use their bus passes on public bus services that are mainly used for schoolchildren, and services run mainly for tourists (such as the Haytor Hopper), it could save up to £47,500.
Another £15,000 would be saved by only allowing free travel with the National Bus Pass before 9.30am when there is no other bus before 11.30am instead of 11am as it currently stands.
Free travel would still be permitted for National Bus Pass holders where the only bus of the day goes before 9.30am.
It would save £4,000 by raising the cost of a replacement bus pass from £8 to £10.
There are no proposals for withdrawing any bus services.
Around £655,500 – 86per cent – has already been achieved mainly through efficiencies and stability in the National Bus Pass scheme, due to management of the scheme having been transferred from districts to the County Council, with the issuing of smartcard passes and reimbursement paid to bus companies.
Councillor Stuart Hughes, Devon's cabinet member for highway management, said: "A lot of work has gone into cutting more than £650,000 from the budget for next year but further savings are needed.
"It's clear that difficult decisions have to be taken and we want people to let us know what they think of what is being put forward and if they can suggest any alternatives. The County Council is considering a number of options to change the way services are provided and increasing charges for services, rather than removing them entirely."
The authority has already saved £100 million over the past four years, and with the prospect of further reductions in settlement from central Government, the County Council is continuing its Tough Choices consultation on proposals to save a further £110 million by 2017.
Comments need to be made by 29 January 2014. To view the proposals in more detail and to comment, visit http://new.devon.gov.uk/publictransportbudget/
