Support for free transport welcome but what happened to Key's promise? – Age Concern

Faced with a review of SuperGold Card free off-peak public transport, Age Concern welcomes Government's commitment to the scheme but asks what happened to John Key's promise to 'fund the increase'.

"Exactly one year ago the Prime Minister expressed his support for the scheme and said 'we will be funding the increase' if it becomes more popular than budgeted for," Age Concern chief executive Ann Martin says.

"We acknowledge that Government is committed to the scheme, at least until 2012 anyway, but we want to remind the PM of his promise to 'fund the increase' and we ask him to follow it up, rather than cutting a scheme that's doing so much for older people and for public transport

"Free off-peak transport is win/win. It's good for older people; it's good for public transport as it uses spare off-peak capacity, and it's good for the environment as it replaces car journeys.

"People aged over 65 are using free public transport to do their shopping, help family members, get to health appointments and generally keep engaged with their communities."

"We also need to remember that some areas with significant senior populations don't have any public transport at all. It would be good to know what the Minister's doing about that."

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