Bus passes

Anniel

Gosh! Someone on Gransnet says something positive about Boris on the bus pass in London. Surely one of the Tory opponents will be along and tell us something negative. After all Sadiq Khan is a great Mayor, isn’t he?

Cheap fares for London pensioners started in the 70s

NotAGran i was under the impression that you can use your pass on BUSES but not on tubes in London. My daughter lives in the country but got a pass so she could use it on the bus in London. I am sure you will find the correct information online.

I know how you feel granbabies I’m 64 this year and having to wait

Can a bus pass be used anywhere in the country?

For example, if issued in Oxfordshire could it be used in London and Liverpool?

Catta5 I did not apply for my bus pass until after I retired, though I was entitled to earlier. It didn’t seem right somehow.
Now I use it at least twice a week, or I did before the pandemic. Looking forward to getting out and about more again soon.
DH has one but hardly ever uses it. He drives everywhere. Grr.

catta5

Personally I think bus passes etc should be given with retirement pension and not before if you go to work why expect retired benefits
When I was at work a lad got a free bus pass as slightly disabled why he did the same job and paid the same but was so much better off only a slight limp if you did not know

that sounds able-ist.
no one knows the details of anyone else's disability status; if he met the criteria, then he was entitled to the pass.
i doubt that the transport authority would give them out carelessly.

Freedom pass for over 60s, also for young people, in London is constantly teetering on edge of being cancelled because of TFL’s massive debts. It had plenty of money before Sadiq Khan took over as mayor! Badly run.

Personally I think bus passes etc should be given with retirement pension and not before if you go to work why expect retired benefits
When I was at work a lad got a free bus pass as slightly disabled why he did the same job and paid the same but was so much better off only a slight limp if you did not know

64 here. Got myself a senior railcard at 60, and renewed it after 3 years, with another 3 year one hoping that if the terms changed existing holders would be able to keep using it
It bugs me no end that I have to wait, I'd use buses if they were cheaper and you didn't have to buy 2 singles for 2 different bus companies, or wait for the right bus company if I've got a return
I do get plus bus when I take a train somewhere.
It's a no brainer for me to make buses cheaper, for example going to the hospital there are bus stops outside, but it is more convenient to drive and even with parking costs it is cheaper. I'd happily go on the bus if it was cheaper. I only go on it when I can't drive because of eye drops.
I have heard talk of stopping the bus pass but think that there would be unintended consequences. In noal times many older people go into towns for shopping and meeting friends and having a cuppa or a bite to eat. We need people to keep town centres going

I received mine at the same time I was eligible for my state pension, as this was over 10 years ago, I had to wait until 9 months (consider myself a WASPI woman, but not owed a great deal from the government, but still would like what I am owed) after my 60th birthday.......OH got his when he turned 60 !!
Made it difficult for us for a while, he could get on a bus and just go, I had to fiddle and faff about getting change together to pay on bus..... but we managed it, and my God has it saved us some money over the years.

In Liverpool, our area is known as Merseyside.

We get our Local Bus Pass at age 60. This is only available for journeys WITHIN THE MERSEYSIDE REGION - Buses, Trains and 'Local Ferry Service' (but NOT the Mersey River Cruise). www.merseytravel.gov.uk/tickets-and-pricing/over-60s/. That Bus Pass is paid for by Liverpool City Council even though other cities have discontinued their schemes due to Government Funding being cut.

Link announcing this from 2010 - www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/local-news/free-bus-passes-over-60s-3424583

At age 65, we get our English National Concessionary Travel Pass - www.gov.uk/government/news/free-bus-passes-for-older-and-disabled-people-protected-for-the-future

Interesting DOTTYNAN. But totally untrue, why should men take priority over a woman of any age for that matter - HA HA.

But going back to the conversation on a carer going free on the bus with a person who holds the disabled bus pass, know for fact that the National Trust you ask them for + show on entry their small card they issue to you which you have to request from them, and same goes for the cinema which someone mentioned on an earlier comment.

Scotland and Wales are given, to put it simply, a lump sum of money every year to spend on health, eduction, bus passes etc. Wales I believe also give free uni education. So maybe you should be asking your local MP (a tory by any chance) why we can't have the same in England.

The trouble is our NI payments are not put into a ‘pension pot’ so the pensions have to be paid out of the current workforce’s tax.

Gosh! Someone on Gransnet says something positive about Boris on the bus pass in London. Surely one of the Tory opponents will be along and tell us something negative. After all Sadiq Khan is a great Mayor, isn’t he?

Carers do have to show proof fwiw. They even do at the cinema with cinema pass thing

Dottynan

In England a man can get the bus pass for free travel when reaching the female state pension age. They kept that one quiet

this is incorrect, or rather makes no sense. for many years,
there is no difference in retirement age for male and female.

no, because the carer is an escort who may vary day to day, basically anyone accompanying the holder of disabled pass.
each council makes it's own rules.
the railways disabled pass also used to include a carer.
not sure now.

DAFTBAG1.

Have not heard of a "carer" being able to travel for free alongside with yourself or any other disabled person. Do they have to show a certificate to prove they your carer then ?
Regards, and good luck to you.

Yes, JILLSEWING my father and mother - who is not alive retired to North Wales many many years ago and I fought hard and long for 18 months on issues of getting medical supplies (mainly incontinence pads) for her, which my father on just his state pension had to buy/pay for himself each week for when she went into a nursing home and also my fathers surgery was well behind on the Covid19 vacination programme and him being 95 was behind my husband age 70, and in their younger days had to wait days for an appointment when we get seen (now) or an over the phone chat on same or next day here where we live in Enland. But think prescriptions are for FREE whatever age you are in Wales.

As it stands at the moment, the government gives councils funding for bus passes, which includes a statutory sum for those people of retirement age and the disabled. It is then up to individual councils and devolved nations to decide who they will offer passes to.

I live in Kent, and my husband was given a pass on the date of his retirement, at 60. I am disabled, and be a use I am unable to travel independently I have a bus pass which allows myself and a carer to access free bus travel.

We are hoping to move to Cambridgeshire in the future, they offer bus passes for those of retirement age, and the disabled but, not for a carer. It just depends yet again a postcode lottery!

Yes, have friends who visit their children and know about the Oyster cards.

Oh, crickey, yes, Dont get me going on this Sorry Subject. I am 63 and missed my state pension at the age of 60, when so many of my friends who are just slightly older than me got theirs at age of 60 as well as - yes, their BUS PASS in England. But an old friend from my teenage years in the North has moved to North Wales a few years ago and has already got her bus pass at 60, yes, different as they didnt change the age limit over there, and it infurates me as my husband who is 8 years older than me can travel on bus in England so if we wanted to could have a trip out and have a drink without him having to drive me as I dont drive myself etiher these days - although I used to - but which now have lost confidence in doing as so many idiots now on the roads and seen a few near misses for my husband just being on the road and he being in the right, so it would come in very handy. I did wonder whether or not to chain myself to the railing of No.10 Downing Street in protest but guess I would be arrested firstly and definately would need the loo is the other thing with bladder issues being a woman of a certain age. Ha Ha !1 But joking apart it was disgusting of this Government on pensions and our local authority to change the guidelines for age on our bus pass but guess ultimately then that was also a Government decision on bus passes.

I live in a rural area with no buses but I applied to the council anyway, just to see if I could get one, so I have one that is unusable.

Blossoming

OK,Mr. Google reveals the following info. Freedom pass rules are the same for London as elsewhere, currently you have to be 66 or over (state pension age for women). However, TFL have a scheme where those 60+ living in a London borough get a free Oystercard valid on TFL journeys. I hope that answers your question granbabies123

It's a one off payment of £20 for a over 60s in London who do not yet qualify for a free pass.