Sir — Alas, bus companies are not reimbursed for free travel by people over 60 under any formula, as you mistakenly reported (September 12). In fact, each district council is supposed to pay each company enough to ensure that the company is neither better nor worse off because of the free passes.

If I travel to (say) Stratford on Avon just because I can go free, and would otherwise have stayed at home, Stagecoach isn't entitled to reclaim anything (except the tiny cost of carrying one extra passenger). Since no one has the faintest idea what proportion of my journeys are of this kind, companies and councils both end up paying expensive lawyers to argue appeals.

It gets worse. The Department of Transport's website wittily claims that it's self-evident what a local service is. In fact, all bus and coach routes qualify, except on stretches where the official stops are more than 15 miles apart.

So I can travel free to Lewknor on the Stagecoach Tube, and to Stokenchurch (or even Hatfield) on National Express 737. I can't find anyone at Oxford City Council who admits to knowing this.

Your readers can look at www.buspassheaven.co.uk to learn more.

Nicholas Lawrence, Oxford