Wokingham

When is 12 months not 12 months? When it involves the shelf life of Wokingham District Council’s annual travel tokens!

Currently the local travel tokens are distributed every year but have a shelf life of 15 months – although issued annually, this allows for a period of grace where residents can still use their tokens.

“This can cause confusion and makes accounting more difficult,” said executive member for corporate services Cllr Rob Stanton.

This is set to change, however, as the council’s decision-making executive is to consider giving the annual tokens a 12 month shelf live at their meeting on Thursday November 30.

The tokens are currently issued every year and are valid from April 1 to June 30. The proposal is to change this to 12 months only, making the tokens valid from April 1 to the end of the financial year on March 31.

“This should not make any difference to the people who benefit from the tokens, other than they will have to use them up within 12 months. It will however save the council some £15,000 every year, which is very important in these cash-strapped times,” said Cllr Stanton.

Part of the council’s concessionary travel scheme for the district's 21,000 older people (over the age of 60) and those with disabilities, the travel tokens can be used on buses, trains and taxis. Over 16,000 take up the offer of £40 of travel tokens. A further 3,650 also benefit from a means-tested scheme which offers £80-worth of local travel tokens. Others opt for the free bus pass allowing free off peak travel on local buses. A subsidised railcard is also available.

If the executive decides to give the tokens a 12 month shelf life, people will be advised of the change when the application forms for next year’s issue are sent out in February 2007. The new expiry date will also be printed on a label attached to every bag of tokens and it will also be printed onto each individual token.

Wokingham District Council