It's also a problem of people not wanting to be "in the way". Even if services are available on-demand, some older folks get the opinion that they don't want to explicitly request help as they'll add additional work for others, which they don't want to do. If the service is available anyways, they don't feel bad using it.

I've met some elderly people who weren't happy they received free senior passes for travel and wanted to pay like everyone else

My maternal grandparents are in their mid 90s, and they're both generally upset whenever it turns out they can't do something which was not a problem in their 80s - by that I mean e.g. cooking for ten people and organizing a family get-together.

What happened when they contacted the council to offer to pay? Or returned their travel pass?

TIL, thank you! Might be very useful for some of my family

There’s Taxicard too https://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/services/taxicard/apply-ta...