Free travel but ditch your cars

Published: 14 October, 2010

• ILLTYD Harrington (As I please, October 7) is right about the need to retain the Freedom Pass for social reasons.

We also need it for environmental reasons – to keep private cars off the road so there is less pollution and less congestion.

But London’s more affluent pensioners shouldn’t be allowed a Freedom Pass if they still have a car – they don’t need both.

This may seem far-fetched, but in Brussels the transport authority already offers a free travel pass (with similar privileges to London’s Freedom Pass) as a reward for any residents – not just pensioners – who scrap their car.

They see this as a step towards reducing air pollution and the number of car journeys made. The Brussels reward can also be taken as a grant to buy a bike.

JOHN COLLINS,
St Albans Road
NW5