There has never been a better time to travel than when you enter your third age. It’s usually free and could open up a whole new world which passed you by during your earlier years.

When you’ve suffered all the jokes about the “bus pass” birthday, take a serious look at just what you are eligible for and you’ll be surprised.

Since April 2008 everyone resident in England and who is over 60 or “eligible disabled” is entitled to a free annual bus pass giving access to free off peak travel on local buses anywhere in England.

Off peak is anywhere between 9-30am and 11pm Monday to Friday and all day at weekends and on public holidays. Local authorities may offer further concessions to their residents such as free travel outside off peak times or reduced tram or rail travel, but these will only apply in the authority area and not elsewhere in England.

In April last year (2009) the rules about where you can use your pass were clarified and there are some strange quirks within the ruling.

Usually you cannot use your pass on services where most seats are reserved, for instance coaches, on temporary services lasting less than six weeks, rail replacement services and services where extras are included in the fare, such as refreshments or car parking.

Quite why you cannot travel on your pass and pay for the refreshments escapes me, but the strangest quirk has to be that you cannot use your pass to travel on tourist services or vehicles of historic interest!

Those qualifying for a pass as eligible disabled are, the blind and partially sighted, if you are profoundly or severely deaf, are without speech, have an injury or disability which has a long term and substantial effect on your ability to walk, do not have arms or have long-term loss of use of both arms, have a learning disability or would, if you applied for a licence to drive a motor vehicle under Part 3 of The Road Traffic Act of 1988, have your application refused under section 92 of the Act which relates to physical fitness on grounds other than the persistent misuse of drugs or alcohol.

All fairly straightforward stuff, so make good use of it. With increasing transport costs, private and public, your Third Age bus pass could be just the ticket for getting out and about more…and you don’t have to pay for it!

Editor, Third Age.

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