National bus passes delay
Winchester City Council has just been informed that the new bus passes for its residents will not be dispatched until the first week in April, despite the National concessions starting on 1st April 2008. The new National Scheme will allow disabled people and those over 60 to travel free on buses anywhere in England. Currently free travel is restricted to within Hampshire.
The new bus passes will be in the form of Smart Cards. The City Council has done everything within its power to ensure that residents get their passes in time to use on the 1st April but unfortunately the supplier producing the passes has experienced unexpected delays during dispatch. We now understand that the passes will be delivered during the 2nd week of April
However, arrangements have been made with bus operators to allow people who have existing bus passes to be able to continue to use them within Hampshire between 9am and 11.00pm up until the end of April 2008. They cannot, however, use them outside of Hampshire. We have now been told that the national passes will be dispatched directly to residents on 5th April at the latest and we ask residents to be patient with us in the meantime as the situation is out of our control. If however this causes particular problems please contact the City Council on 01962 848 581.