Free National Bus Travel - Over 60's, Disabled etc

stebiz

This is just a reminder for anybody who is over 60 or who falls into one of the categories below, that from 1st April 2008, you are entitled to free, off peak bus travel, Nationally. Not just locally. You need however to contact your local council.

There are seven categories of disability under which a person can be entitled to concessionary bus travel. An eligible person is someone who:
(a) is blind or partially sighted,
(b) is profoundly or severely deaf,
(c) is without speech,
(d) has a disability, or has suffered an injury, which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his ability to walk,
(e) does not have arms or has long-term loss of the use of both arms,
(f) has a learning disability, that is, a state of arrested or incomplete development of mind which includes significant impairment of intelligence and social functioning, or
(g) would, if he applied for the grant of a licence to drive a motor vehicle under Part III of the Road Traffic Act 1988, have his application refused pursuant to section 92 of that Act (physical fitness) otherwise than on the ground of persistent misuse of drugs or alcohol.

For full details
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/regional/buses/concessionary/answerstofaq/answerstocbtfaq?page=1#a1003

Poppycat

Thanks my daughter got a free pass the other day as she is disabled. But as you said the national scheme is form April so even before now if qualify you can get a free pass and it can be used for a carer who also goes free in local area/regional

Its easy go to council with evidence and they take your picture it took us 15 mins tops including a wait in the queue

millie

I was under the impression that it is only available for use in England and Wales not Scotland. I was told this by a resident in Scotland while I was on holiday there. He said they would be able to use their pass in England and Wales, but I would not be able to use mine in Scotland which seems unfair to me if this is true.

Poppycat

Not sure but it swings and bouts. there's things Wales and Scotland get free and England doesn't

scorpio_princess

Poppycat wrote: »

Not sure but it swings and bouts. there's things Wales and Scotland get free and England doesn't

Indeed - free eye tests and university tuition fees spring to mind

Sorry, but it's nice to see we do get some things go our way sometimes - i'm fed up of hearing about Scotland getting this for free and that for free. If we're all in the UK, why does this happen? Probably not a question for this board I know!

Tiff_2

Hi stebiz!:hello:
How's you angel? Haven't seen you for a while - hope all is well with you and yours. I'm glad you spotted this too - I'd posted about it in The Money Savers Arms in the wee hours of yesterday morning. I didn't know you were posting too.;)

Tiff wrote: »

Hi guys!:hello:
I stumbled across this piece of information yesterday - sorry if anyone has already posted on the subject.
Now I know it's 2 months away, but just so you know that it's not an April Fool's joke...

From the 1st April, 2008, people who receive concessionary bus passes for being over 60 or for being disabled, will be able to travel at off-peak times with their local bus passes, on any local bus service anywhere in England for free. :money:
I imagine they're saying on local bus services because it wouldn't include services like National Express etc. services. London is also included with certain criteria.

Here's the link to the gov. website for you to check the details.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/PublicTransport/BusAndCoachTravel/DG_071640

And here's the link for the sites with details relevant to your area.
List of National Concessionary pass providers (opens new window)

As an example, my council will make sure a pass is issued to anyone eligible and current holders will not need to reapply. The passes will last for 5 years.
Hope this helps someone.
Much Love,
Tiff xxx

To answer a point raised, if I've understood it correctly,:rolleyes: it is only valid in England - not Wales or Scotland.
Also, I think that you can't use it to cross boundaries/counties - it's for free local travel in England once you're in that area.
Hope I've not confused anyone even more!:rolleyes:
Much Love,
Tiff xxx

Edinburghlass_2

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=556735

the "rules" in Scotland are linked in this post...

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=6909520&postcount=85

Farway

Tiff wrote: »

Also, I think that you can't use it to cross boundaries/counties - it's for free local travel in England once you're in that area.
Hope I've not confused anyone even more!:rolleyes:
Much Love,
Tiff xxx

From April you can use it to cross boundaries, and then catch another bus onwards, what you cannot do is use it for long distance travel, like a coach from Portsmouth to London for instance

You would have to catch bus from Portsmouth to say Petersfield, then Petersfield on towards London & bus hop all the way onwards, via say Guildford, Esher, Kew etc, no doubt with time & effort it could be done

dobbie82

scorpio_princess wrote: »

Indeed - free eye tests and university tuition fees spring to mind

Sorry, but it's nice to see we do get some things go our way sometimes - i'm fed up of hearing about Scotland getting this for free and that for free. If we're all in the UK, why does this happen? Probably not a question for this board I know!

England get more money put into Adult learning, I considered a course but decided to wait a year but then moved to wales and found funding was only for those in England :-(

probably get more spent on roads too, but most of that wasted on roads for this shambles that is the Olympics

it all balances out eventually..