I have been in the situation (fortunately, not now) where an extra pound a week on fares - or on anything - made a difference. A change that seems small to me now isn't necessarily small to others.

At the time of my misfortune, the price of some basic foods went up, as well as the cost of my railcard; price rises rarely happen in isolation.
I noticed how very few friends were aware of the small, but, to me, significant rise in the cost of milk, for example. One's perspective changes - I remember being astonished that prices were going up so much but no-one seemed to notice. "Oh, I get mine from an organic farm so I pay more anyway" was one comment.

The argument that...
things have been worse once ...
luckily for us got better ...
therefore, it doesn't matter if they get worse again...
is an odd sort of argument. And are we so lucky with our transport costs ?
For those interested in facts and figures:
http://www.cfit.gov.uk/docs/2001/ebp/ebp/key/02.htm