Leicestershire County Council - Concessionary Travel Scheme

A mandatory bus concession for older and disabled people has been in place since 2001. The scheme has gradually been extended since its introduction and since April 2008 has provided free off-peak local bus travel to eligible older and disabled people anywhere in England.  It is administered locally by Leicestershire County Council for all residents of the county, City residents are covered by a similar scheme administered by the Leicester City Unitary Authority.

To use your bus pass on local buses within England, show your pass to the driver as you get on. If the bus is fitted with a reader, touch the reader with your pass. You don't need a ticket to travel, but on some services the driver may give you a zero-priced ticket to record their passenger numbers.

You can’t use your bus pass on services:

- where most seats can be reserved, like coaches

- that run for less than six weeks, like shuttle buses to special events

- for tourists, like open-top bus tours, or services on vehicles of historical interest

- that are running instead of a train - 'rail replacement' services

- where the fare includes 'extras', like refreshments or car parking

However, many coach operators offer half-price travel for older or disabled people. Ask the coach company for more information.

Please click on the link below to see information about each scheme and to access the printable application forms.

If your bus pass is about to expire, in most cases a new pass will be automatically posted to you 2 or 3 weeks before the expiry date. However, if you are aged under 60 and have a disabled person’s pass on the grounds of severe walking disability or because you are likely to be refused a driving licence on medical grounds, you will need to re-apply for your pass and we will send you an application form 6 weeks to a month before the expiry date.  

If you need a replacement pass, please call 0116 305 0002.  If you make several requests for replacement passes, we may ask you to explain the reason for this before issuing any further passes to you. Only the pass most recently issued to you is valid for travel. Therefore, if you lose your pass and get a replacement, your original pass ceases to be valid, even if you later rediscover it.

You can choose vouchers instead of a bus pass if you are unable to travel by bus but need to travel by taxi.  You will need to show that you qualify for the vouchers scheme due to disability or, for older people, by your address being more than 800 metres from the nearest bus service operating hourly or more frequently.

We are currently issuing vouchers for the period 1st September 2012 to 31st August 2013 (£33 per eligible person).  To apply for vouchers if you haven't had them before, please click on the link above to the scheme application forms.  Please note that green vouchers with expiry date 31st August 2012 are no longer valid for travel.

You can view a set of Frequently asked Questions about Concessionary travel (including information on where and when you can use your bus pass) by clicking on the link to the word documents below.

Leicestershire Concessionary Travel Scheme - Frequently Asked Questions (Word Document 259 KB)

Frequently Asked Questions about smartcards, smart ticketing and the Leicester and Leicestershire OneCard project (Word document)

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