Letter: Councillors Should Use Public Transport

Published on: 6 Jun, 2013
Updated on: 6 Jun, 2013

From H. Trevor Jones

County councillors, it seems, can claim 45p per mile whenever they choose to use a car?

Can I suggest that if a journey can be made easily enough by train and/or a short bus ride, they should only be able to claim what would have been the train/bus fare even if they do choose to use a car.

For a councillor not already owning a Network or Senior Citizen discount card, it would be reasonable to pay the expense for the card if that made an overall saving during its year of validity. Although County Hall does not have direct rail access from most of Surrey (you would have to change at Wimbledon and double back), it is only a short frequent bus ride from Surbiton station which does.  With a discount card, an afternoon train return from Guildford to Surbiton is about £6.20 whereas 45p per mile must come to about £18 for the return trip by car.

I like the suggestion of unitary authorities, that has been made by others, but if we have no counties above them, then perhaps the idea of regional authorities should be reinstated to coordinate things like transport that are best done at that level.  It has already been found that administering concessionary bus passes is best done at a higher level that local authorities, now instead being done by counties.

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