Plans to extend bus travel discount could save you £1,560 a year

A new campaign is calling for free bus passes to be extended to more people. A new petition to Parliament is urging for laws to be changed so carers of disabled people can get bus passes. The message urges: "There are disabled people who cannot travel without their carers and we think carers should be able to travel with them for free.

"Some disabled people who rely on carers are currently paying for their carer's bus fare which means that their travel is not wholly free. The English National Concessionary Travel Scheme is meant to help eligible elderly and disabled people to travel for free by bus.

"In our view, disabled people who rely on carers are not travelling for free if they have to pay for their carers. We want carers of disabled people who have a bus pass for free travel, to have free carer bus passes too."

Through the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme, eligible older and disabled people can get a bus pass for free local bus travel in England. This is available from 9.30am to 11pm on weekdays, and all day on weekends and bank holidays.

You can get a free bus pass once you reach state pension age in England, which is currently 66. If you travelled on a route where the bus fare cap of £3 applies, if you caught the bus twice a day on weekdays, you would save £30 a week with a bus pass, or £1,560 a year.

The law outlines that these categories of disabled people are entitled to concessionary travel in England:

• Is blind or partially sighted
• Is profoundly or severely deaf
• Is without speech
• Has a disability, or has suffered an injury, which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to walk
• Does not have arms or has long-term loss of the use of both arms
• Has a learning disability, that is, a state of arrested or incomplete development of mind which includes significant impairment of intelligence and social functioning
• Would, if he or she applied for the grant of a licence to drive a motor vehicle under Part III of the Road Traffic Act 1988, have his/her application refused pursuant to section 92 of the act (physical fitness) otherwise than on the ground of persistent misuse of drugs or alcohol.

If the petition reaches 10,00 signatures, the Government will have to provide a response. If it reaches 100,000 signatures, the matter will be considered for debate in Parliament. You can sign the petition online.