Paying by 'card' on Bus eireann

jogdish

So I have observed people paying on the Bus eireann buses,

1) cash
2) leap card

Then,
Some people seem to wave a card to the driver, and thats it, they are not OAP's or visible disabled to my eye.

Others place some card on the LEAP card reader spot, but it scans way way faster than the LEAP card.

Is there some hidden ways to pay I don't know about?

Poxyshamrock

Public services card. OAPs, disabled, carers, etc.
Not all disabilities are. Isobel OP.

jogdish

jogdish wrote: »

So I have observed people paying on the Bus eireann buses,

1) cash
2) leap card

Then,
Some people seem to wave a card to the driver, and thats it, they are not OAP's or visible disabled to my eye.

Others place some card on the LEAP card reader spot, but it scans way way faster than the LEAP card.

Is there some hidden ways to pay I don't know about?

There are others who have free travel. eg Carers. Also, not all disabilities are clearly visible, eg mental problems and things like Cystic Fibrosis.

riclad

Those people may have free travel card, given to people on disability allowance.
You cant just look at someone and tell their medical status .
Theres no secret way of paying the driver .
They just show the driver a card .

XPS_Zero

jogdish wrote: »

So I have observed people paying on the Bus eireann buses,

1) cash
2) leap card

Then,
Some people seem to wave a card to the driver, and thats it, they are not OAP's or visible disabled to my eye.

Others place some card on the LEAP card reader spot, but it scans way way faster than the LEAP card.

Is there some hidden ways to pay I don't know about?

This is a very common question, and an understandable one, and with the general misunderstandings that go on about FT in general it's worth going into a bit of detail on this.
You are not meant to just wave an FT card at the driver.  Unless you are going intercity on the train or up north on BE/Translink (in which case you need a ticket) you are meant to tag an FT card the same as a LEAP card so they know it's active and valid.
There is a card younger students in secondary school use on the School Transport Scheme it may be that.

It's a very common thing for people to see a user of an FT pass and think "what the hell could possibly be wrong with him/her".   You get an FT pass automatically with the pension, carers, or disability allowance.  Disability Allowance is given to anyone who has a medical condition lasting longer than a year that severely inhibits basic functioning (like socializing, working , education etc).  In other words, contrary to what you will often hear ignorant tossers on the radio say you cannot "just go up to yar GP say yar depressed and go on disability" out of the blue.  The application is detailed and requires your GP, a welfare officer and independent medical officer to agree your conditions bad enough.

The purpose of FT is to encourage people with long term or serious medical conditions, and senior citizens, to get out and about, which stops their condition getting worse (and more expensive for the health service to treat).  People with certain conditions, and those of a certain age, tend to become shut ins, and as a result their mental and physical health deteriorates.   A recent study in the UK suggests these schemes may be a net financial gain to the state in health savings. 
Understand with mental illness (which I'm gonna use as an example) I'm not talking about someone with minor or moderate depression.  With some disorders like PTSD a person can become paralyzed, if your heart rate goes up to 140 you literally freeze up and stop functioning (this is one of the reasons many people in plane crashes just freeze in their seats and die).  So how do you get a shut in back to functional normality?   You do therapy (like CBT) which involves getting them out into the world in baby steps.  So being on the DART daily at 8am (as one baby step) they see all the people going to work and the sights and sounds make them remember what normality was like, they also see life going on all around them, the world continuing on without a beat as their life was on pause and it makes them realize their lifes wasting away as they sit locked away from the world and they become eager to recover.  That's just one example.


You won't always be able to tell what's wrong with someone.  They could have a form of cancer, a brain issue, mental health problems.  If someone had tried to kill themselves twice and was riding public transport to get rid of social anxiety that was a key part of their illness, you'd have no idea.  Even serious physical issues like cancer, the cartoonish image people have of a cancer patient who is totally bald and wasted that's usually end stage illness, medication and treatment protocols have gotten so advanced now (as have hair replacement tech during chemo) that even someone being treated for a stage ii cancer would not look like hell, they might just look like they need some sleep (on the outside)
The other thing to keep in mind is you don't know what STAGE of the illness the person is at.  What if they are well into recovery from depression, cancer, whatever?  They might be starting to look quite well.  Think about that stigma someone faces for a second.  They've done everything people tell them to do, they've "pulled the finger out", gotten treatment, pushed themselves hard, they're nearly there (remember these conditions can get so bad shaving and showering are an ordeal you just don't have the mental energy, or even physical as many are not eating more than a meal a day if that), they are proud of themselves and looking forward to going back to work.  Then (as has happened so. many.  times.) some driver or ticket checker mutters under their breath "nothing f---g wrong with you" when they see the card.  Imagine how that would make you feel, you did everything you were meant to do, it made you look like a normal person again...and the fact that you looked normal again worked against you.
Also keep in mind some people are allowed keep it under the 'Making work Pay' Act where you keep it returning to work for a transition period.



You yourself may develop some condition in future where you need this as a tool to help recovery along, and the randomers on the bus won't know your story.

XPS_Zero

Sorry folks this keeps bloody happening to me, I post and it erases my paragraphs inserting junk text into what I said then when I edit to correct it the original post appears at the bottom and the edited version at the top.
I've no idea why this keeps happening but it's been the case ever since boards changed it's format.

Rubberchikken

Not all disabilities are visible. It's not easy to be diagnosed disabled contrary to what some posts say on boards .