Freedom
Never Gets Old

Travel By Bus

Freedom Never Gets Old

Using your Bus Pass

Benefits of Free Bus Travel

Managing finances during the cost of living crisis is difficult and especially for older people who rely solely on a state pension. Using a bus pass and traveling for free can save money on petrol, parking, taxi fares or paying friends or family for car journeys. Money saved can be used on their own essential needs or to help dependants.

Saving money is always good and it certainly helps reduce financial worries. Many older people still have anxieties about going out and about after the pandemic and building confidence can take time. But getting out in the community, connecting with people and places, having something to look forward to during the week, taking some exercise with a walk to better mental agility and improved well–being. Making new friends and joining a coffee or lunch club can remind older people of life before Covid.

Getting on a bus can be a social activity from saying hello to the driver, meeting and making friends  to changing scenery from neighbouring villages to market towns. From the diversity of people on the bus to passing the time of day with a friendly hello can unlock the chains of loneliness and create friendships and companionship and open minds to a more positive attitude.

Bus service can’t get people to every location in a county as large as Lincolnshire but there are certain essential services such as hospitals, supermarkets and doctors’ surgeries that bus services - especially in conjunction with Demand Responsive bus services such as Callconnect and ConnectBus- can access.

Planning a journey by bus may seem daunting but with the help of the Transport Helpline - 0345 456 4474 - many journeys using a bus pass are possible.

Bus service can’t get people to every location in a county as large as Lincolnshire but there are certain essential services such as hospitals, supermarkets and doctors’ surgeries that bus services - especially in conjunction with Demand Responsive bus services such as Callconnect and ConnectBus- can access.

Planning a journey by bus may seem daunting but with the help of the Transport Helpline - 0345 456 4474 - many journeys using a bus pass are possible.

Bus service need passengers. Bus services are only as stable as the number people getting on board. Although bus pass holders do not pay fares, their journeys are subsidised by the local transport authority and therefore support the bus operator. 

Concessionary Bus Pass

How to get your bus pass

You can apply online or by telephone . You will receive your pass within 10 working days. At peak times this may take longer. There isn’t a charge to apply for or renew an older person or disability bus pass.

Your bus pass gives you free travel on off-peak scheduled bus services in England. In Lincolnshire you have the extra benefit of free local journeys before 9.30am – if the journey originated in Lincolnshire.

Concessionary Bus Pass

When you can get your bus pass

It is easy to work out if you are eligible for a free concessionary bus pass through the English National Concessionary travel, first of all you must have reached the national retirement age and eligible for a state pension. (Please note: different rules apply to different regions of the UK).

The best way to find out if you are eligible is to check locally and there are easy ways to do that. Lincolnshire County Council, for instance, allows you to apply, renew and check eligibility via its website- click here 

PLAN YOUR JOURNEY