Boris: End free travel for young troublemakers (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

John, Deptford says...
2:19pm Mon 11 Feb 08

Could you not also deport any immigrant trouble makers as well, the police have a hard enough time dealing with our own government created chav idiots without the filth that no other country wants.

The community service could include graffiti removal.

Get Livingstone to do some and make him pay back the donation he excepted from that gaffiti thug before he gets thrown out of office.

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Bob Peel, Croydon says...
2:31pm Mon 11 Feb 08

Confiscating Oyster cards doesn't work. The young scrotes just get on the bus anyway because the drivers are powerless to do anything.

Here's a better idea:

Stop all free travel for youngsters.

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Marco, Croydon says...
3:05pm Mon 11 Feb 08

This whole something for nothing attitude is causing a lot of problems for the decent hard working members of society.

We should definitely scrap free travel for children of all ages but not only that we should extend it to OAPs - why should they get free travel on busses or other public transport? Also we should scrap it for police officers - why should they be allowed free travel on London's buses, trains, trams and tubes?

The whole thing is a disgrace, people should pay full price for these services and if they don't like it they should get their car out and use that instead like I choose it.

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ric, kingston says...
3:09pm Mon 11 Feb 08

who stupid idea was it in the first place.

let me guess some muppit who lives in a nice big house in the country side who drives a bentley and has never taken the bus in his life.

this was obviously going to happen.

free bus travel should be from 8 till 9 then 3 till 5. that way its just for school.

rest of the time they can get a pedal bike.

that way you can combat obesity in young children at the same time.

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Rhian, Wimbledon says...
3:47pm Mon 11 Feb 08

I think the free travel is a good idea...for low income families. When I was going to school, I had to walk quite a long way if we couldn't afford the bus passes. However, my younger brother has benefited from this scheme as now my parents dont need to worry about high costs for travel.
Now, suggesting that OAP's should have to pay also..that's just cruel. Old people have had their time of working and travelling, now its their time to be able to relax and take their life at their pace. And your comment about immigrants...Please dont be so ignorant. I'm sure you're a racist thug who needs his/her bus pass removing.

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Simon, South Croydon says...
5:32pm Mon 11 Feb 08

This is a nice idea but I am unsure as to how it would work. How would you determine who loses their pass and would be go through no end of appeals from parents claiming their child did nothing wrong.

As someone who got a small grant to cover my bus pass at college (back 16-18 years ago due to low family income) I appreciate that some need help. The issue though is the new breed of kids who think they run the buses, walk on and off ignoring the driver and all other passengers and generally behave dreadfully.

There is also a big problem with the 16-18 year olds who when challenged for their oyster id-card have conveniently lost it or claim that it is 'in the post'. I have seen this regularly and the kids then refuse to leave the bus when asked by the driver.

If Boris can explain how this will be policed the great. Unfortunately I think the only answer is to go back to how it was when I was a child, grants for those who needed them and everyone else pays.

As for OAPs, they deserve free travel and a lot more.

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my dads a bus driver, sutton says...
7:17pm Mon 11 Feb 08

If you had a child, you have no car, and they had to walk a long way to school you would feel differently. Take away passes from the bad kids but not for the kids out there just trying to get to school. Do you not want kids to go to school? How would hard working low income families pay for such an expensive bus service if they can't afford school dinners or anything else yet they aren't on benefit nor do they recieve any help because they work. Very easy to put down good kids who mind their own business and lump them in with thugs of whom good kids are also afraid of and don't want to walk home a long way from school in fear of being bullied. Very unfair and uninformed to say all kids are bad. The ones who are generally are the ones skipping school so the answer would be restrict times kids can get on buses during school hours only. My child and I walk everyday to school and it takes us 40 minutes one way because of the sort of adults who ride buses sometimes are quiet dodgy. My husband and I both work hard but struggle to meet all the costs, we don't have a car, we can't afford school lunches or outings, yet my child works very hard in the best school in the area making top grades, but if she needs a bus I'm afraid of the hard hearted office twits with chips on their shoulders being rude. If you guys who complain about bus travel work in such well paid jobs why don't you have a car? Buses are traditionally for those who can't afford to get around in a car or are immobile like children and the elderly. And face it, £2 per one way trip for a bus is a big rip off in anyones book. Working families can not afford this! Just because you may be over or under a certain age and don't qualify no need to get horrible, it's simply because children and pensioners don't have your ability to get jobs to pay for these services. Mind you, pensioners have paid taxes and parents pay lots of taxes, so we don't get any free ride, but you wouldn't know that unless you had a family on a tight budget. Single people can afford to be rude, uncaring, and selfish. With the amount of council tax we pay it should be included for everyone for free as a community service. If I didn't have such a high council tax I could afford to pay for the buses but if we are all charged huge council taxes then what money is left to pay for all these other services (which in fact we've all already paid for in rip off over taxed Britian). If you don't have a child or you aren't over 65 then you have no idea what it's like. Talk when you've had a child and you're on a meagre earning with no benefits and you have to worry about how your child gets to school and how safe they are in doing so. It's no excuse what has happened in the past (when I was young I had to pay yadda yada) cause in that case we'll need to go on and on about poll tax and thatcher etc and that's all past history. We need to focus on today and make travel safe for all, affordable for all (70 p-£1 per ticket just a few years back was reasonable but £2 is a laugh). Get the kids to school in school buses or on regular buses during school hours and boot out the trouble makers by having conductors who help out the drivers. We all deserve a safe trip and the buses aren't giving any of us this and they are charging us way too much for the priviledge. My dad is a bus driver (for 9 years) and agrees we need conductors back in force for safety reasons, school buses or free travel 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon for kids to get to and from school, and to only let elderly have free travel after 9am and before 5pm and all other times kids and elderly to pay a reduced rate of £1 so they can get to after school clubs and social clubs for the elderly if they wish to have more freedom to use the buses outside of those times, which we must agree is a very good idea to reduce this problem. Kids shouldn't be allowed on free during summer, half term, or in the evenings/weekends, I think even paretns agree cause it would cut down on kids running wild skipping school, going out at night in town centres to drink, etc and their parents not knowing where they are cause they can bus hop. Keep it for school travel only.

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Kes, Upper Norwood says...
8:26pm Mon 11 Feb 08

These kids should be getting exercise to walk to school! No wonder this country is now second to the States in the obesity table. Try getting on a bus, after about 3pm, when they are full with free-travel school kids! Especially if you've just paid £2 for the privilege. Let's hope Livingstone gets kicked out on 1st May.

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lucy, kew says...
11:40pm Mon 11 Feb 08

I dont think the idea should be scrapped as the majority of children are good and we shouldn't brush every child with the same stick! I do agree with Ric, maybe only allowing them to have it during 7.30am till 9.30am and again at 2.30pm until 6pm. Out of these times it can be free ONLY with a responsible adult. Also when the free pass was introduced the rules was if you misbehaved you would lose it! Every child was on their best behaviour, until they realised no one was removing them when the kids was bad. Of course they are going to behave how they want when they dont get punished for it, same as our prison system. Just empty threats!

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Bob Peel, Croydon says...
11:39am Tue 12 Feb 08

Boris,

If you want to become Mayor scrap free travel for all ages between 5 and 65.

Marco wrote, "Also we should scrap it for police officers - why should they be allowed free travel on London's buses, trains, trams and tubes? "

The idea was that a police officer on a bus/train/tube would intervene in the event of a problem - it's not just a perk.
Nowadays a lone officer would be foolish to become involved but his presence is useful to raise the alarm and as a reliable witness.

Would you be prepared to raise the alarm or be a witness Marco?

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whitchick, Surrey says...
12:08pm Tue 12 Feb 08

How about this for an idea, make the kids parents responsible - if their kids are bad, then sort the root of the cause, the parents. If my kids were causing chaos on a bus I'd come down on them like a tonne of bricks. I see no issue with giving free travel, but make them earn it and put the onus solely back on the parents to bring up well adjusted, polite children, by using fines, parenting courses, maybe even jail. And lets stop giving benefits and flats to kids having kids, make people work and they will appreciate everything that little bit more.

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tonyb, Sutton says...
12:09pm Tue 12 Feb 08

Boris dont just confiscate trouble makers passes - stop free fares for all youngsters - charge them half fare.
Get all cyclists off the roads.Scrap the congestion charge.Get rid of Ken.Get rid of the Lib Dems on Sutton Council - that will do for today !!!!

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ANNE GILES, SELSDON says...
12:28pm Tue 12 Feb 08

Police should travel free. We need them on the buses. One of our neighbours' boys was attacked by a gang on a bus and had his mobile 'phone stolen. I notice the PCSOs are frequently travelling by bus during the hours that children go to and from school. Long may that continue! As for OAPs, they have worked hard all their lives and deserve to travel free. Many are only on state pensions after all. Travel in the UK is expensive, compared to many other countries.

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Lucy C, Richmond says...
1:20pm Tue 12 Feb 08

Free travel for all young people should be scrapped. I can no longer go to work by bus as they are so full of school kids that I can't get on. I have to pay more money and catch a train. I also believe that councils should not give out Freedom Passes to anyone apart from the elderly, as I see them being abused on a daily basis.

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Mr J Jones, Carshalton says...
1:29pm Tue 12 Feb 08

Boris will certainly get my vote on this. 90 percent of kids just get on the bus without even touching or showing a pass? I see it every day.

I've come home from work at 10pm to have the driver halt the journey cos kids have crowded on and caused havok.

Either restrict it to school hours or scrap the whole idea altogether, I suggest?

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Bob, w/park says...
1:52pm Tue 12 Feb 08

Its's simple. Free travel to and from school 6.30am to 9.30 & 14.00 to 17.00 with an Oyster card only. No free travel outside these hours full stop!!!!

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sarah, Surrey says...
3:56pm Tue 12 Feb 08

Bob wrote:
Its's simple. Free travel to and from school 6.30am to 9.30 & 14.00 to 17.00 with an Oyster card only. No free travel outside these hours full stop!!!!

here here.
Free travel from 9.30am onwards for pensioners!
(NOT people on Low income, as believe me, they get enough perks!)

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Victor, SW9 says...
3:56pm Tue 12 Feb 08

Here's another case of Boris trying to make headlines with no substance whatsoever. The problem is young people, older people wanting to use buses,people who lose their passes. And here's the man who thinks he's up to the job of being Mayor? Make anyone who loses their travel pass should do community service! Clearly this right-wing Tory - and that is his real agenda - hasn't a clue as to how the security of the system works with passes, how they can be cancelled. Also, what if a child has their's stolen? That's in line with expecting the victims of assault to pay a fine, or rape victims to go to jail.
There's only one bus for Boris - the one back to Henley on May 1st

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Farringdon O' Neill, says...
5:32pm Tue 12 Feb 08

Let's put snipers on buses. That'll deter troublemakers - and hopefully Marco too. Plum.

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Marco, Croydon says...
10:40pm Tue 12 Feb 08

Thank you for that Farringdon. I can only assume you don't share the same Conservative values as myself. Why shouldn't children's parents drive them to school rather than packing them off on the buses? Why should we hard working people pay for old people to travel for free? Why can't they get a car and drive themselves wherever they want to go?

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Bob Peel, Croydon says...
3:29pm Wed 13 Feb 08

Farringdon O' Neill wrote:
Let's put snipers on buses. That'll deter troublemakers - and hopefully Marco too. Plum.

What do you want to use snipers for?

At that range David Blunkett could score one shot one kill!

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David, Croydon says...
3:49pm Wed 13 Feb 08

To those talking about £2 bus fares, buy an oyster card. Then you pay only 90p. They can be topped up at many newsagents in the Croydon area.

I don't necessarily disagree with free travel for under 16s, but it has to be implemented properly. The rule must be that you have to use your Oyster card, or whatever pass they are given, to get on the bus. If you do not have one (in the post or whatever reason) you cannot get on the bus - simple as that. If this was done and enforced with no exceptions (maybe with the help of the police for a couple of weeks) I think many of the problems would be eliminated.

I think it would also be useful to have the odd police officer sitting on a bus during peak hours. Maybe they could get on at one stop (just before a school) and get off a couple of stops later a half mile or so further on. They don't have to ride the whole route. It would make a huge difference, give the passengers confidence and also help the bus drivers who must hate the pre and post school periods.

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Emily Shardon, Hillingdon says...
3:51pm Wed 13 Feb 08

John wrote:
Could you not also deport any immigrant trouble makers as well, the police have a hard enough time dealing with our own government created chav idiots without the filth that no other country wants.

The community service could include graffiti removal.
Get Livingstone to do some and make him pay back the donation he excepted from that gaffiti thug before he gets thrown out of office.

Racist.

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Emily Shardon, Hillingdon says...
3:53pm Wed 13 Feb 08

Bob Peel wrote:
Confiscating Oyster cards doesn't work. The young scrotes just get on the bus anyway because the drivers are powerless to do anything.

Here's a better idea:

Stop all free travel for youngsters.

That isn't fair. What about all the innocent ones?

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Jock, London says...
3:55pm Wed 13 Feb 08

Marco wrote:
Thank you for that Farringdon. I can only assume you don't share the same Conservative values as myself. Why shouldn't children's parents drive them to school rather than packing them off on the buses? Why should we hard working people pay for old people to travel for free? Why can't they get a car and drive themselves wherever they want to go?

Oh dear me! Conservative values?!

The Tories are just Labour in Blue. Cameron and his public school cronies will make our bad situation worse. They don't live in the real world. As long as their policies work in their own cosy little worlds, they don't give a stuff about the rest of us.

I certainly won't be voting for them. UKIP, or maybe an "also ran", for me.

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T.Rice, says...
7:20pm Wed 13 Feb 08

John wrote:
Could you not also deport any immigrant trouble makers as well, the police have a hard enough time dealing with our own government created chav idiots without the filth that no other country wants.
The community service could include graffiti removal.
Get Livingstone to do some and make him pay back the donation he excepted from that gaffiti thug before he gets thrown out of office.

Agree.

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leanne, chessington says...
8:24pm Wed 13 Feb 08

im 16 and iv never caused trouble on the buses ..i have to get the 71 bus from chessington north to surbiton station and back again every day just to get to the station so i can get the train to weybridge for college...i already have to pay £100.30p a month for the train and i can just about afford that ..if free travel was taken away i would never be able to go to college with having to pay £4 for the bus every day aswell.....and as for people saying that they think that their should be restricted times on the free travel i dont agree with this either as i and many other students dont always start college during the restricted times... but one thing i do aggree with is the community service idea ..i think there should be community police officers on all buses at all times to make sure the trouble makers are caught and have there free travel taken away i also think that the community officers should be upstairs and downstairs on buses to make sure that anyone without a free travel can not get on.

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John, Morden says...
9:33am Thu 14 Feb 08

I thought I'd add my twopence to the illiterate gobbings already posted. Is it possible for any discourse nowadays not to descend to quasi-Nazi nonsense? Those writing "scrotes", "filth", "immigrant" - you're retarded and ever shall be. Please discuss. j.brogan7@googlemail
.com

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Bob Peel, Croydon says...
12:05am Sun 17 Feb 08

Emily Shardon wrote:

Bob Peel wrote:
Confiscating Oyster cards doesn't work. The young scrotes just get on the bus anyway because the drivers are powerless to do anything.

Here's a better idea:

Stop all free travel for youngsters.
That isn't fair. What about all the innocent ones?

What about all of us who pay to legally use the bus services only to be abused by little sh*ts whose parent (or on the very, very odd occasion parents) can't be bothered with disciplining their little darlings.

We pay in excess of £120 per month to travel to work so we can support all the chavs and scummy families on good benefits and we suffer accordingly.

That's not fair Ms Emily Shardon. If you don't like it buy your offspring a bike and do the working public a favour.

J Brogan get yourself a life. I am well educated and literate. If you do not like the passion in these posts then I suggest you read the a telephone directory. Cast of thousands, not much of a story though.

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ANNE GILES, SELSDON says...
5:36pm Sun 17 Feb 08

Hello Bob - how about getting this guy to read all the unwanted stuff that gets put through all our doors on a daily basis?

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Bob Peel, Croydon says...
9:44am Tue 19 Feb 08

ANNE GILES wrote:
Hello Bob - how about getting this guy to read all the unwanted stuff that gets put through all our doors on a daily basis?

Hello Anne,

I suspect he already does so; subscribing to a plethora of pizza's, burgers and other remotely cooked fast food offerings, brought to his doorstep by a Honda 90 rider under L plates.

A sad, lonely being indeed.

Thank heavens he's in Morden.

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ANNE GILES, SELSDON says...
12:58pm Tue 19 Feb 08

And ads for estate agents, double glazing, slimming diets and dating agencies. Nice reading!!

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Lizzie, croydon advertiser says...
3:01pm Tue 19 Feb 08

Bob Peel, this is a bit cheeky, but can you please email me?
I want to have a quick chat about a story I'm doing, and I think you will be able to help.
Lizziesmith@croydona
dvertiser.co.uk

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owlfandbg, tooting says...
9:48pm Tue 19 Feb 08

This whole debate shows up the lack of intelligence of many people. Free travel on the busses for under 16s speeds up bus loading and encourages use of buses instead of cars. That a few kids abuse the system is not a reason to take it away from the majority. Make the kids pay and guess what - the troublemakers will use more cars or will still use the buses.
The ludicrous suggestion by Boris that free buses in some way fuels gangs simply show him up as someone who does not use reason to come to a conclusion. So there was no trouble on the buses before this policy ? Of course there was.
And Gangs were restricted to a single street - of course not.
The real reason many people don't like this is the way that fares have gone up - they see that they are paying more and others are getting somthing for free. A reasonable arguement. I don't agree with it but if Boris had said that I could see the reasoning. He didn't . He simply spouted some nonesensical soundbite.
As for pass withdrawal - as has been pointed out it already happens - so another pointless , ill thought out soundbite .
If people want to vote Boris then so be it - they ill get what they deserve. A non london mayor with a history of gaffs - including this one about the passes

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Tim, Carshalton says...
12:48am Thu 28 Feb 08

Can't this toff come up with any original policies. Livingstone has already proposed to remove cards from anyone who abuses them. the best thing I have heard of so far is the proposal from TfL to insist that all kids have an Oyster card. That way there will be no dispute about whether or not kids should or choudln't be on a bus. Ant the card is linked to an individual so they or their parents can be held responsible. Tim

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