Ernie Clark. Hilperton Division, Wiltshire Council.

An amnesty is being held for people to hand in concessionary bus passes that should no longer be in use ahead of a new ticketing system arriving in February.

People qualify for a concessionary bus pass when they have reached retirement age or due to disability.

Across the south west from 2 February buses will have an improved card-reading system which will check whether concessionary bus passes are valid, helping counter fraudulent use of the scheme.

The amnesty period will run from now until 1 February 2015 for people to arrange for a new pass to be issued or return the old pass to Wiltshire Council. During this time if a pass is shown which is no longer valid, the driver will tell the passenger that the pass must not be used again but the user will not be charged for that journey.

When someone has been issued with more than one bus pass, only the most recently issued bus pass is valid, even though they may both have the same expiry date. Usually that is because they’ve received a replacement after they thought their original was lost or stolen. However there are also cases of the passes being sold on or lost passes being used fraudulently which the new system will help counter.

A pass would not be valid if

• The holder had informed the council the pass had been lost or stolen
• If it had previously been used fraudulently
• The holder is no longer entitled to concessionary travel
• If the council had written to the holder about the pass and the letter had been returned by Royal Mail
• If the council had written asking for up-to-date proof of eligibility or asking for the pass to be returned.

From 2 February those bus passes will no longer be accepted on buses and passengers will need to pay the fare. 

People who are told their pass is not valid should call Wiltshire Council on 0300 456 0100 or email concessionarybuspasses@wiltshire.gov.uk to receive individual advice. If it is necessary for Wiltshire Council to issue a replacement bus pass there will be a £5 charge to cover the cost of reissue.

For more details on the changes and concessionary bus passes in general go to http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/parkingtransportandstreets/publictransport/buspasses.htm

For further details on the wider scheme visit www.swsal.co.uk