Policy contribution

Economic efficiency is slightly improved by a reduction in congestion and by allowing people to access a wider range of goods, services and employment opportunities than before.

The reduction in traffic and so congestion and environmental externalities will help to make cities and neighbourhoods slightly more liveable.

The main objective of this policy is to allow for equity and social inclusion. This is done by targeting concessionary fare schemes at those who require them most. These concessions will improve the equality of travel opportunities and give people receiving them a greater opportunity to travel, shop, find jobs, visit family and friends etc.

Safety will be increased on two counts. One will be the reduction in traffic which will reduce the number of cars on the roads and so help to decrease the number of accidents that occur. The other area will be that people will be able to use public transport more often which is a safer form of travel than walking especially for senior citizens alone late at night.

Economic growth in the area may experience a sight increase due to the chance for the people who have received the concession to get new jobs and increase their shopping. If there is a large increase in patronage on public transport, the area will benefit from having more jobs available i.e. on the buses.

The success of a concessionary scheme will depend upon the number of people eligible for concession in a particularly area and more crucially if there is the demand for it which is a product of the attractiveness of existing transport services and destinations and the access they have to private transport. Large cities with good public transport services are most likely to see the highest patronage growth of all areas, since there will more attractive destinations and as importantly a public transport network to access them.

Table 16 - Concessionary Fare: Area Suitability