From April 1st OAP`s have to pay on Football buses

[Hound]

I can

like I said, club good, bus company bad.

[Green]

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/feb/13/pensioners-now-20-a-week-better-off-than-working-households

For the clickshy - clues in the URL

[DelBoyRodders]

If only it was a April fool !!!! what a bummer !!! us OAP`S cannot suddenly find an extra £5 per match. I`m so upset I`m going to write to my MP.

I see there was a news story about this in this week's Reading Chronicle and then a follow-up piece online last night.
Thankfully Reading FC have stepped in after being allerted to what Reading Borough Council were planning to do and are going to part subsidise the OAP fares.
Shocking stuff from RBC though - what a dreadful way to treat OAPs.

[The Quiet Man]

Harsh on RBC whose support comes from reading council tax payers who subsidise these routes, pretty much all of which run outside the borough boundaries, getting no help from West Berks or Wokingham. RBC can no longer afford the subsidy the club have done the right thing by stepping in until the end of this season.

I wouldn't think that the services make a profit and there is a tacit agreement between RFC and RBC (free admission for drivers etc) that has kept the service on the road. The bigger worry will be next season as it would be unreasonable to think RFC could wholly pick up the cost and equally without a number of full cost paying pensioners the future of some of the routes might be in question. If the A33 bus lanes are in place RBC may say that any Reading pensioner could get directly to the ground by getting their normal service to the town centre and then a "normal" shuttle service out to the ground which would be covered by their existing bus passes. Where that would leave the out of borough services could be problematic.

No doubt there will be some interesting discussions after this season ends around traffic management, parking, park and ride, and bus services to the ground.

[No Fixed Abode]

Harsh on RBC whose support comes from reading council tax payers who subsidise these routes, pretty much all of which run outside the borough boundaries, getting no help from West Berks or Wokingham. RBC can no longer afford the subsidy the club have done the right thing by stepping in until the end of this season.

I wouldn't think that the services make a profit and there is a tacit agreement between RFC and RBC (free admission for drivers etc) that has kept the service on the road. The bigger worry will be next season as it would be unreasonable to think RFC could wholly pick up the cost and equally without a number of full cost paying pensioners the future of some of the routes might be in question. If the A33 bus lanes are in place RBC may say that any Reading pensioner could get directly to the ground by getting their normal service to the town centre and then a "normal" shuttle service out to the ground which would be covered by their existing bus passes. Where that would leave the out of borough services could be problematic.

No doubt there will be some interesting discussions after this season ends around traffic management, parking, park and ride, and bus services to the ground.

But Reading buses make huge profits. You would just think they'd waive the fees, certainly for the rest of the season as it does state on their website prices would be frozen again.

[Forbury Lion]

Reading FC have agreed to subsidise OAP travel for the remaining home games, It's now £1 each way rather than £5.

[No Fixed Abode]

Reading FC have agreed to subsidise OAP travel for the remaining home games, It's now £1 each way rather than £5.

Posted over the page on the 17th Feb m8.

Yes. Nice gesture from the club.

[Royals and Racers]

Reading FC have agreed to subsidise OAP travel for the remaining home games, It's now £1 each way rather than £5.

£1 each way offer now extended for all next season as well- Reading FC well done !!!

[No Fixed Abode]

Reading FC have agreed to subsidise OAP travel for the remaining home games, It's now £1 each way rather than £5.

£1 each way offer now extended for all next season as well- Reading FC well done !!!

Fair do's the club. That's still added on £92 to the cost of attending league games next season though...

[Readingfanman]

£92 is £4 a game?

Surely it'd be £46 extra.

[Royals and Racers]

£92 is £4 a game?

Surely it'd be £46 extra.

On all his posts previously he`s talked plural, so I think he is referring to 2 person`s costs.

[No Fixed Abode]

£92 is £4 a game?

Surely it'd be £46 extra.

On all his posts previously he`s talked plural, so I think he is referring to 2 person`s costs.

Yeah - sorry, I'm talking 2 people (my folks are STH).

[St Pauli]

I wonder why the elderly are deemed more in need of this subsidy compared to teenagers.

State pension £119 per week. I wonder how many teens are on that. I suppose the yoof could cycle.

So actually meh.

+1.

The pensioners can take it out of the money they saved not having to pay for uni, or the massive house price boom they benefited from, or cheap beer in pubs all those decades, or any number of things old people have that those under 25 will never get.

[No Fixed Abode]

I wonder why the elderly are deemed more in need of this subsidy compared to teenagers.

State pension £119 per week. I wonder how many teens are on that. I suppose the yoof could cycle.

So actually meh.

+1.

The pensioners can take it out of the money they saved not having to pay for uni, or the massive house price boom they benefited from, or cheap beer in pubs all those decades, or any number of things old people have that those under 25 will never get.

But think of all those taxes over the years OAPs have paid compared to those under 25.....

[St Pauli]

They'll have paid a lot less in beer, fuel, fag and va tax than the young currently pay.

[The Royal Forester]

How do you work that out? OAP's will have been paying tax for all those items for 50 years (and paying the same as the young at the present rates). A youngster has been paying his/her taxes for 5? 10? 15? years, if in work. Fifty years of paying tax may have been a lesser amount, but don't forget when we stated work £20 per week was a decent wage, so the proportion of wages paid in tax is about the same as now. Also, do not forget that the services that were provided by the local councils/government cost a lot less then, than they do now, so the taxes we paid all those years paid may have been less than we all pay now, but it kept the country running and paid for all that was required.

[Maneki Neko]

I wonder why the elderly are deemed more in need of this subsidy compared to teenagers.

State pension £119 per week. I wonder how many teens are on that. I suppose the yoof could cycle.

So actually meh.

+1.

The pensioners can take it out of the money they saved not having to pay for uni, or the massive house price boom they benefited from, or cheap beer in pubs all those decades, or any number of things old people have that those under 25 will never get.

But think of all those taxes over the years OAPs have paid compared to those under 25.....

and their taxes and pension payments will in no way cover what they take out over their life times.



poor show from the club on this, chasing the grey dollar. Should have stood firm. once you show weakness and back down they'll try and take the club for everything they can get.

[St Pauli]

How do you work that out? OAP's will have been paying tax for all those items for 50 years (and paying the same as the young at the present rates). A youngster has been paying his/her taxes for 5? 10? 15? years, if in work. Fifty years of paying tax may have been a lesser amount, but don't forget when we stated work £20 per week was a decent wage, so the proportion of wages paid in tax is about the same as now. Also, do not forget that the services that were provided by the local councils/government cost a lot less then, than they do now, so the taxes we paid all those years paid may have been less than we all pay now, but it kept the country running and paid for all that was required.

I'm assuming from your post you are a retiree or close to retirement.

Were you up in arms when Labour brought in tuition fees, and the Tories massively increased them?

Were you up in arms when my older colleagues' teaching pensions were preserved and mine was undermined?

Are you up in arms about the current cuts to housing benefit to young adults? To the cuts to child benefits for young familys?

If the answer to any of these is 'no' then remind me why anyone of my generation should give a phuck about pensioners' ability to get to the football for free/cheap?

The baby boomers are raising a generation that gets nothing from the state, but expects them to pay huge amounts of tax for social care.

[No Fixed Abode]

How do you work that out? OAP's will have been paying tax for all those items for 50 years (and paying the same as the young at the present rates). A youngster has been paying his/her taxes for 5? 10? 15? years, if in work. Fifty years of paying tax may have been a lesser amount, but don't forget when we stated work £20 per week was a decent wage, so the proportion of wages paid in tax is about the same as now. Also, do not forget that the services that were provided by the local councils/government cost a lot less then, than they do now, so the taxes we paid all those years paid may have been less than we all pay now, but it kept the country running and paid for all that was required.

The baby boomers are raising a generation that gets nothing from the state, but expects them to pay huge amounts of tax for social care.

Like all those on benefits that can afford iPhones, flat screen tv's, have the latest Nike Air trainers and are covered in tattoo's? Those baby boomers?

[Maneki Neko]

Doesnt sound like em, no.