Bus Pass Change Welcomed by Reach on BBC Radio Nottingham
News August 20th, 2026
Disabled people across England will soon be able to use their concessionary bus passes for free travel at any time of day, following a Government announcement that current time restrictions will be removed from 1 April 2027.
At present, disabled bus pass holders are generally entitled to free travel between 9.30am and 11pm on weekdays, although some local authorities choose to fund additional hours (not here in Nottinghamshire). The new national policy will remove these weekday time restrictions, enabling eligible pass holders to travel free of charge 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The change is expected to benefit around one million disabled people and has been welcomed by disability organisations that have long argued that the current rules create unnecessary barriers to employment, education, healthcare and community participation.
For Reach, this announcement is about much more than transport policy. It is about independence, choice and ensuring that adults with learning disabilities can participate fully in their communities.
Across our centres in Mansfield, Newark and Southwell, we see first-hand how important affordable and accessible transport is. Bus services are often the main way that the people we support travel to courses, social activities, volunteering opportunities, appointments and friendships that are essential to living a good life.
The existing restrictions have had a practical impact on how organisations like Reach deliver services. Over many years, we have deliberately designed our timetable around the limitations of the disabled bus pass scheme. Many of our activities start at 10am to ensure that people relying on free bus travel can attend without having to pay additional fares before 9.30am.
While this approach has helped make our services accessible, it has also highlighted an important reality: disabled people should not have to organise their lives around restrictions placed on their transport.
As Lydia Horbury, Chief Executive of Bus Users UK said:
Disabled people don’t live off-peak lives. Lifting these restrictions nationwide replaces an arbitrary postcode lottery with genuine freedom, independence and dignity.
Whilst we at Reach warmly welcome this important step forward, there is still more work to be done.
For many adults with learning disabilities, affordability is only one aspect of accessible transport. Bus routes can be limited, services may be infrequent, and evening and weekend services often finish early. In rural areas especially, the challenge is sometimes not whether travel is free, but whether there is a bus available at all.
Listen to Julia’s interview on BBC Radio Nottingham (from 2:49:00):
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0030187