This Blog focuses on issues affecting older and disabled people, with an emphasis on bus passes.
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The aim in our blog is to provide a focus on bus pass and other issues affecting Pensioners and Disabled people. We draw on reports in newspapers, TV and other media, plus issues which concern our website visitors and ourselves. Bus Passes include Freedom Passes, Metro Passes, “English National Concession Ticket Scheme” (ENCTS), NOWcard, NCTP – whatever they are called locally. Issues covered include pensions, benefits, taxation, health services, transport services, bus and train fares.
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Please go to our In the news concerning pensioners and the disabled page to view our most recent news items, and access all of the posts we have made. Our ‘Where to apply’ pages which many people find very useful. You’ll find there links direct to your own local authority webpage where application forms are found (not always easy to track down in some council websites!), and details of where to send them. You will usually find details of the services on which you can use your pass, and the times of day. These times sometimes differ from the standard ’9.30 am – 11pm Monday to Friday, and anytime Saturday and Sunday’ and in some areas train and ferry services are also usable with a local bus pass. Many of these variations from the standard can be found on our ‘Local Variations’ page. For disabled people there’s information on the definition of disabled for a disabled bus pass.
We are an unofficial website and have built up knowledge on what is happening in the the UK in these issues, and often take up issues raised by our website visitors with local authorities etc. |
We recommend these videos, commentary and sound effects of bus pass journeys in Somerset by Geoff Hale:
We also offer the thoughts of Fred n Ted in videos prepared especially for this website.
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Animated flash and gif cartoons on this website by Bazart.
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I would like to know who pays for the free bus passes in England, Scotland, Wales, & N.Ireland.
I hope you can help me in this regard.
Thanking you in anticipation.
Sincerely
Derek Ames
i sent off the forms for free bus passes for my husband and i i received mine a fortnight ago but there is no sign of my husbands can you help
mr albert c
and oblige emily c or can you direct me to the right website thank you
Please to http://www.blog.freebustravel.co.uk/?page_id=67&id=90
You can send an email from the Leeds page thatislinked fromthere
I have a bus pass issued in South Yorkshire.
Can I use it on the Isle of Man when I visit my sister who lives in Ramsey? She has a senior bus pass issued by the Manx authorities.
Thanks
David Smith
Interesting question which I don’t remember being asked before. We have looked up the Isle of Man Bus Pass website which says that Senior Citizens in the Isle of Man can have a bus pass which covers travel by rail or bus in The Isle of Man.No mention of being able to use them elsewhere, which makes us think an English, Scottish, Welsh or N Ireland bus pass would not be accepted.
We would be very interesed to hear from anyone who has tried to use their bus pass in the Isle of Man.
Please also note that this is an ENGLISH national scheme and does not cover journeys that are wholly in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man.
My son is disabled and has a national bus pass with a yellow strip down the right hand side with a small c which as you know and i know means carer and the carer can travel free.Not always easy as today 27/5/12 my wife boarded a route 111 in Hounslow and showed the pass and proceeded to go and sit down with my son the arrogant driver called her back and said the pass was invalid she then explained that she travels with him because he cant travel on his own and he said an inspector told him he could confiscate the pass so my wife told him he couldnt and to save any further argument she paid the £2.30 fare which i definitey know she shouldnt have paid have no fear i will be phoning Hounslow bus garage and give them a piece of my mind and if TFL done their job properly and made publications available about different passes everybody would be wiser.
The Hounslow website gives these Contact details on their disabled freedom pass page
Tel: 020 8583 3073
E-mail: freedom.pass@hounslow.gov.uk
Might be more fruitful than the bus station?
Hello. I am delighted to have found this site & I am very grateful for the time & effort that is put in to maintain it. I am a member of the forum site ‘Bus pass heaven’ but that appears to be dying on its feet. I have just completed my registeration on here, but prior to that I received a very swift answer to a comment which I had made. Thank you so much.
Whilst most of us recognise that the free bus pass is a funded subsidy, it is not a dead-end subsidy. Most people using the free bus pass, spend & trade, as well as the independence & well-being felt, which goes a long way to keeping us elderly people pro-active & thereby less of a drain on funds in other areas of social services. I do enjoy the text & msg’ requests that I receive from time to time, asking for local bus info, even corporate businesses contact me. So my bus pass is such a way of life, I hope it continues. It is so ironic that I travel free, but spend £600 per year, funding the school bus passes for my two grandchildren. What a pip!
I am Laura Folgado and I am doing a feature article about government cuts that affect disable people. I want to tell a real story. I am a student in London. If someone want to tell me her/his story I would be grateful. Thank you for your attention. Please contact me by email: lfolgadoconde@gmail.com
Please let me know if you’re looking for a author for your site. You have some really great articles and I feel I would be a good fit. If you ever want to take get some fresh material, I’d absolutely love to write some articles for
your blog in exchange for a link back to mine.
Please drop me an e-mail if interested.
Thank you!
Have a look at my blog; Eric
Can anyone enlighten me (as a new bus pass holder) what constitutes a “local bus” route. My area (gtr Manchester) allows travel on trams, rail and by bus and the local website even details the boundary limit of my travel. However buses (not coach travel) do go to such places as Liverpool and Sheffield – are these not local?
Good question – I would think that services to Liverpool and Sheffield would be covered by a bus pass. The ‘local’ is meant to differentiate from long distance routes such as operated by National Express.
One way to check this out for a journey is to go to the timetables/journey planning webpage and plan your journey there, selecting only ‘Bus’, not coach or other form of transport. It is possible to plan long journeys e.g. to Cornwall or Cumbria there, though I’ve found that you have to split up the journey into segments e.g. you might be able to plan from Manchester to say Stoke on Trent, then Stoke to Worcester – i.e no good putting Manchester to Truro in as one journey.