Talks on ID cards for bus trips

Councillors are set to consider proposals for a new-style ID card which will enable pensioners and those with disabilities to travel for free on buses and long-distance scheduled coaches.

Members of Oswestry Borough Council’s scrutiny committee are being asked to look into plans for a Smart Card scheme, which was welcomed by borough cabinet members in June.

The Smart Cards will be introduced in April 2008 on the back of government plans to provide free bus travel across the UK.

Oswestry Borough Council must issue new Smart Card travel passes to those eligible by April 2008 at a cost of £33,200, which is to be funded by the Department of Transport.

The cards give disabled people and those over 60 free travel anywhere in England at any time of day on local buses and long-distance scheduled coaches.

But the council will have to allocate any additional funding.

The council’s engineering and transport officer, Richard Jones, said: “Under the new Department of Transport scheme, the authority must issue new Smart Card travel passes.”

He added: “Each council will have to provide a database of all people who take up the scheme such as names, address, telephone numbers, and at present, the borough council does not have a computer records system covering this information.”

Councillors at Tuesday’s scrutiny meeting will be asked to look into how many people are expected to take up the Smart Card.