9.30am bus pass ban for older and disabled passengers gone for good

It is a familiar four-word sentence that bus users across Greater Manchester have heard for 20 years. A sentence that cost ‘hundreds of thousands’ of bus passengers dearly or frustratingly delayed the start of their days.

It was said by bus drivers apologising to older and disabled people they were ‘too early’ to use their bus passes, as government restrictions prevented free travel before 9.30am, so passengers needed to buy a cut-priced ticket instead.

Two trials in Greater Manchester have since shown the early-morning ban actually slowed the network down, creating a second rush hour just after 9.30am, when a ‘crash’ of passholders could finally get onboard. That meant the ‘9.30am rule’ mainly forced disabled and old people to pay for tickets or compelling them to start their days late, pushing appointments and meetings back to mid-morning.

But those days are behind Greater Manchester, after Andy Burnham scrapped the 9.30am rule on Sunday (March 1).

“Permanent freedom from the 9.30am rule means that older and disabled people can get out and about without any restriction – to hospital appointments, to work or to care for their grandkids,” the mayor said on Friday (February 27).

“We’re really proud to be doing this and we can do it because we put our buses back under public control. The people are in charge again and that’s why we’re making this change – to benefit the people of Greater Manchester.”

Removing the rule now spreads demand more evenly, with an August pilot finding 100,000 elderly and disabled people using their passes earlier every day. A similar trial in November, the busiest month for bus use, found 120,000 made the same move.

The ban was first introduced in 2006, when old people’s bus passes were rolled out, as a compromise between the government and bus firms following a row about the loss of revenue. Officials estimate the move will cost the Bee Network £5m annually.

For passholders, it’s ‘life-changing’, according to Nakib Narat, co-chair of the Greater Manchester Older People’s Equality Panel. He said: “It’s a life-changing move and it’s not just a win for older and disabled people – it’s a massive boost for the Greater Manchester economy and a genuine lifeline during the cost-of-living crisis.

“We’re not just passengers. We’re active contributors to the economy. By allowing people to travel when they actually need to, we’re putting an end to that notorious 9.30am bus crash and the frustration of being one of the ‘Twirlies’.”

The mayor’s move means passengers using a concessionary pass issued by Transport for Greater Manchester under the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme can use their pass on any bus in Greater Manchester, Bee Network or not, at any time.