A key state pensioner perk for people who claim the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) state pension has been blasted.
A key state pensioner perk for people who claim the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) state pension has been blasted.
Over-60s free travel costs taxpayers £100 MILLION more than fare dodgers, it has been warned. A key state pensioner perk for people who claim the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) state pension has been blasted.
More than 1.5 million people aged 60 and above currently travel for free on London’s buses, Tubes, trains and trams thanks to two schemes: the 60+ Oyster Card for those aged 60 to 65, and the Freedom pass for those 66 and over.
But TfL is predited to spend a staggering £135 million on the 60+ Oyster Card alone this year, up from £60 million in 2016 – and the figure is expected to hit £185 million by 2027. The Freedom Pass costs London’s boroughs another £350 million annually and could reach nearly £500 million by the end of the decade, as reported by The Telegraph.
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Reem Ibrahim, of the Institute of Economic Affairs, said: “It is difficult to justify a system where the wealthiest age group in the country is having their travel funded by taxpayers. We urgently need a targeted approach.”
Liz Emerson, chief executive of the research charity International Foundation, called it a “perfect example of intergenerational unfairness,” with younger workers essentially footing the bill for their older colleagues’ commutes.
A TfL spokesperson told the Telegraph: “Both the Mayor and TfL are committed to making public transport in London as accessible, convenient, and affordable as possible.
“We regularly review our range of concessions to ensure that they continue to benefit Londoners, while also remaining affordable for TfL to operate.”
60 per cent of those using the 60+ Oyster Card are still in work, and 20 per cent use it to commute, according to the newspaper.
On average, Londoners aged 60 to 64 earn about £42,000 a year – nearly double the income of workers in their early twenties.