Fare play

I hope that, if any such assessment were to be undertaken, it would recognise the broader benefits of these “free” services.

The over-sixties bus pass, for example, must surely have the effect of causing some to leave their car in the garage and use the bus instead, thus reducing net carbon dioxide emissions, preserving fossil fuels and reducing road congestion, all of which are a common good.

It also enables those who might not otherwise be able to travel to do so without expense, thus increasing their mobility and enjoyment of life, which helps reduce mental and physical ill-health and the cost to the NHS.

The overall financial impact is to provide a subsidy to bus companies if, and only if, they provide a useful service. That enables those companies to continue to run services that might otherwise not exist.

If the free bus pass were discontinued, then direct subsidies might then be required to be increased to keep services going, (whether useful or not), meaning no great saving to the exchequer by its abolition.

By all means let these services be assessed, but let that assessment intelligently recognise the complexities of their impacts and not be a narrow-minded application of simple penny-pinching.

Roy Turnbull

Nethy Bridge

Inverness-shire