Sir - Yet another grump! Winifred Muir (Letters, April 18) complains about having to pay her bus fare when she becomes 60, because she starts work at 7.30am, so cannot use her bus pass at this early hour.

She says, "In order to work then, I will need to buy a single ticket...each morning and return home on a free ticket", and claims this will be more expensive than the cost of her present travel. Clearly, this would be a silly thing to do, so why would she need to do it? There's no obligation on her to use her bus pass. It is voluntary, so she doesn't have to pay more if she doesn't want to - by just continuing with her present arrangements.

It seems fairly obvious that restrictions are placed on times of travel because the bus pass is intended essentially for people over 60 who are not working. If there were no restriction, retired pensioners would be clogging up the buses in the morning before 9.30am, and I don't think commuters, maybe including Ms Muir, would be too happy about that.

Winifred Muir is looking at the issue of free travel from a distinctly narrow personal angle. She omits to view the bigger picture. She overlooks the fact that she can use her travel pass for journeys other than just commuting to work. It is valid on local buses - off-peak, of course - anywhere in England, including London. We are now given much greater freedom to travel, something which should be cherished, not knocked.

As for her absurd suggestion (was she being serious?) about increasing the state pension by 200 per cent to compensate her for missing out on free travel to work, this is cock-eyed logic, and not worthy of further comment.

William Patience, Bicester