Editor note: The temporary removal of the timelimit rule will stop 1 September 2025, after which people with a bus pass will have to pay for travelling before 9.30 am again.
In welcome news for people living with disabilities and those of advancing years, Mayor of Manchester Andy Burnham announced on 10 July 2025 that the Local Authority would be ‘temporarily removing’ the rule that the bus pass is not valid before 9.30am.
In August, we will trial the removal of the 9.30am restriction on the older people’s and disabled people’s bus passes.
The Mayor inserted a caveat,saying that at the moment the measures are temporary:
We can’t promise it will be permanent. But we hope it will help people over the summer and will then assess the results to see what is possible.
The Bee Network is becoming even more user-friendly
This is an important development because these groups are now able to use their bus passes before 9.30am in Greater Manchester, and contrasts starkly with other areas of the North West of England such as Merseyside, West Yorkshire and Cheshire, and especially Lancashire where using a bus pass before 9.30am meant you used to be liable for a nominal charge of only £1 for a single journey, but this was stopped in April 2025 and bus pass holders are now liable for the full normal fee in that area if they need to travel before 9.30am.
Under the reforms, Mr Burnham is also reducing the price of public transport services for people attending educational courses and will be bringing in three fresh bus services which will operate into the early hours of the morning.
‘Twirlies’?
The word ‘twirlies’ is a term used by bus drivers to describe those from the older demographic and people living with disabilities wanting to use their bus pass for local travel, and who turn up at the bus stop before 9.30am asking ‘Am I too Early..?’ They are then advised by the driver that yes they are ‘too early to use your bus pass’. ‘Too early’ became twirly.
Who can use a bus pass?
A bus pass, as described in a debate before the House of Commons, is a document or card entitling the holder to use local transport services for free at certain times, under an initiative known as the English national concessionary travel scheme (other British nations have different schemes as it is a devolved project).
It is described as providing free bus travel to those with eligible disabilities and those of state pension age – currently 66 – between 9.30 am and 11 pm on weekdays and all day on weekends and bank holidays. However, local authorities in England have the power to offer additional concessions in addition to their statutory obligations – for example, by extending the times in which the pass can be used, or by reducing the minimum age for elderly people to apply for a bus pass.
Greater Manchester’s Bee Network?
The Bee Network is the transport plan in Greater Manchester brought in by Andy Burnham in 2023. It is part of a Local Authority strategy in trying to transform the area’s transport infrastructure into the style of London transportation.
It is meant to make the fares easier to understand and more affordable by charging £2 standard for a single journey, make services more consistent, and create one system of transport that is easy to use, connecting with train tram nd bus servicesincorporating:
The public transport landscape appears to have changed with the introduction into law of the Transport Act 2000 which applies in England, and rules that if passengers use public transport services in a certain locality met the criteria, they could travel on those services at off-peak times i.e. after 9.30am without incurring a charge. However, the term ‘off-peak’ was not clearly defined and this has become a grey area.
The rules changed again in England in 2008
The Concessionary Bus Travel Act of 2007 was introduced which came into force on 1 April 2008, which made the bus pass practice uniform throughout England. So, what did this mean? In a nutshell, the legislation meant that every person of pension age, and people living with a qualifying physical or mental impairment, have the right by law to use public transport services without needing to pay for a ticket from 9.30am to 11.00pm if it is normal day of the week, and all day on a weekend and bank holidays. At the time this was viewed objectively as a huge victory for consistency.
During 2020 and 2021 many Local Authorities allowed people with a qualifying bus pass to travel before 9.30am without incurring a charge to lower the risk of over-crowding in the Covid pandemic, and to help people with important journeys. In the Greater Manchester area cost-free travel was permitted for a limited time in 2020, however it was abolished afterwards.
Whilst the changes were seen as a huge success it had a down-side too. It standardised the shutting out of people of advancing years and people living with disabilities and using these important transport services from attending early morning appointments for instance with their general practitioner, dentist or a local hospital facility.
The situation now
In the two decades which followed there has been a nationwide challenge from people throughout the country by charities like Age UK who represent:
- people claiming their pensions,
- groups representing members of the community who are living with disabilities, and
- those campaigning for a fair transport network
They submitted that not allowing affected demographics to travel for no charge or a reduced price before 9.30am was placing a financial barrier on people who had appointments booked earlier in the day, had a detrimental effect on people with care responsibilities and who volunteer their time, and ran counter to the aim of assisting people with disabilities and those of advancing years.
Simon Lightfoot MP ‘Government is determined to address barriers’
In a Parliamentary debate which took place on Thursday 10 July 2025 the issue was discussed in the House of Commons. Simon Lightfoot, the Parliamentary Undersecretary of State for Transport recognised the ‘value of the English national concessionary travel scheme’ and confirmed that the Government wanted ‘everyone to have straightforward access to high-quality public transport and are committed to improving services so that they are more inclusive and enable disabled people to travel safely, confidently and with dignity. ‘
Mr Lightfoot said ‘I know, however, that disabled people continue to face unacceptable barriers in their everyday use of public transport’. The Undersecretary noted though that the Government is ‘determined to address them. I am committed to working with the sector to drive forward these much-needed improvements’.
The Undersecretary referred to ‘Department statistics report that 77% of travel concession authorities offer extensions to the beginning of the statutory time-period, allowing passholders to travel before 9.30 am on weekdays’. The Undersecretary observed that Councils may additionally ‘offer companion passes to disabled passengers as a discretionary enhancement’. Mr Lightfoot explained, ‘this is a power we have seen taken up by two-thirds, or 66%, of authorities, from Durham to Devon.’
Why does all this matter?
More than 8.8 million people living with disabilities or of pension age in the UK possess bus passes. The restriction on these demographics from travelling free of charge or at a reduced rate during the early part of the day are important problems raised by members of the community in the area of fairness in the use of public services as the restriction could be seen on one level as antiquated.
It will be interesting to see how successful the pilot of this change to bus pass hours is and the impact it will have on the ability for affected groups to attend medical appointments, go about their daily business and travel to their workplaces.
Inspired by an LDRS press release by Ethan Davies
