Pay now, travel free later

Calton is all for free bus travel for pensioners but he does not understand why it starts at 60 when nobody gets their state pension at that age now and nobody will get it before age 65 in a few years' time. We are giving away free travel to working-age people right now and, unless the policy changes, the number of working-age people who benefit from it will rise as the state pension age rises. It just does not make sense. It's not as if it is difficult to work out when someone reaches state pension age. You can do it yourself by clicking on this link. Edinburgh has a reasonably good, cheap bus service but other towns and rural areas are not nearly so well-served. Small consolation to struggling workers paying higher fares on fewer buses to know that they will get the last 5 years of their commuting free.