I'm going to claim my free Bus Pass

It's uncommon for me to use public transport, and if I have to I prefer to go by train. Ever since my State Pension began in 2014, I've chosen a free Senior Railcard each year, rather than a free Bus Pass. My local District Council has offered that choice.

No longer. They have sent me a letter explaining that, because they need to make economies, they intend to withdraw the free Senior Railcard. The free Bus Pass remains available.

Damn. I do actually use that railcard, often when I want to ride into a city where parking is difficult and expensive. I used it recently, for example, to ride into the centre of Exeter, from Topsham. And back in April, if I hadn't changed my plans, I would have taken the train from Huntly or Insch into Aberdeen. More locally, I use it now and then to go into Brighton.

Well, if the Mid Sussex DC won't fund it any more, I'll just have to bite the bullet and pay the normal fee for a twelve-month Senior Railcard, which is £30. That won't break the bank, but it's an unwelcome new expense.

And I'll finally swallow my pride and apply for an Older Persons Bus Pass, and join the merry throng of white-haired old biddies and codgers who ride the buses for something to do. They needn't expect me to drop off at the bingo hall with them.

I suppose I could get a project going, to ride (for instance) every Brighton & Hove bus route from one end to the other - but do it scientifically, to take in every stop. Like people who try to visit every London Underground station. I might as well get something from it, some kind of slow-burning amusement.

Personally, I think rigor mortis will set in after an hour. Buses are so slow. It'll be boring. And there could be a hundred ways in which the behaviour or demeanour of the other passengers will appal me.

There is of course an initial problem. I have to walk a mile to catch a bus that can take me into Brighton in the first place. Why would I do that, when Fiona awaits on my drive, champing at the bit? A big, powerful car is the clear and obvious mode of transport for a country girl. I'm hardly going to forsake my personal chariot for anything else, save a fast train.

So getting a Bus Pass will be a symbolic act only. I will have something that my pensionable age entitles me to. But I'm unlikely to use it. And I won't be claiming solidarity with older geriatrics.