While London is unusual in that public transport tends to be used right across the social spectrum, in a different context, Baker and White (2010) in their case study of free concessionary travel in an English rural region found that those with access to cars were also making significant use of buses following the introduction of concessionary travel.
They say the deal does not fulfill the airline's promise to give pilots the top contract in the industry after they had accepted a concessionary agreement in 1996 just as the industry was beginning to post record profits following a steep downturn.
"A concessionary atmosphere in any industry always threatens to bleed over elsewhere," said Harley Shaiken, a specialist on labor issues at the University of California at Berkeley.
In a global context, where the need to introduce measures to address carbon emissions are largely recognised in high- and middle-income countries, there may also be wider benefits to extending concessionary schemes in differing social, economic and political contexts.
Audit Scotland said weaknesses in planning for concessionary travel, introduced in 2006, meant it was still unclear how successful it had been.
Mr. Cohen said that while some unions have lost ground in concessionary contracts, "we've maintained our living standards in this contract".
It continued: "During the period we saw an improvement in revenue trends from our Scotland and North of England businesses, whereas in keeping with industry trends, our businesses in the South have experienced a reduction in concessionary volumes.
When county councils took over the administration of concessionary bus passes in April, Gloucestershire decided to redraw the entire bus service map.
His research staff tackled difficult fiscal and monetary policy issues even as the Fund became involved in crises bail-outs in trouble-spots around the world including Greece, where as a member of the "troika" of creditors (alongside the European Commission and European Central Bank) it sought to extract concessionary policy reforms in exchange for financial assistance.
Yet his nose for what was confused, concessionary or secondhand in the manuscripts he pored over was unerring; his instinct for the excellent was sure; somehow, by indirections and almost by gestures, he would nudge writers into discovering it for themselves.
