Concessionary Travel

The Scottish Government is committed to providing concessionary travel for older and disabled people through the National Concessionary Free Bus Travel Scheme for Older and Disabled People.

This provides access to free bus travel for eligible people on local and long distance scheduled bus journeys throughout Scotland at any time of day for any number of journeys.

There are currently 1.3 million National Entitlement Card holders and research carried out on behalf of Transport Scotland showed that the scheme is giving users a greater sense of independence, encouraging use of public transport and increasing confidence in their own ability to travel.

Disabled and visually impaired young people also cited greater independence and less reliance on others as a key benefit.

Local concessions can also be provided for disabled people.

For example, recognising that disabled people use taxis and private hire vehicles more than non-disabled people, some local authorities choose to run taxicard schemes that subsidise a number of journeys for disabled people so as to make the journeys more affordable.

This is entirely a matter for those local authorities, taking into account local needs. Local councils can choose whether to have a scheme, to have different eligibility criteria and subsidies and whether to add other elements (like rail concessions) to their schemes.

Legislation was passed on the 3 March 2021, which extend the existing National Concessionary Travel Scheme to eligible disabled children under the age of 5 years. This allows free bus travel for them and an accompanying companion.

This is a positive step that will give around 4,000 eligible disabled children across Scotland access to the same benefits as those aged five and over, helping reduce household costs for some of our most vulnerable families.