Free bus travel for 5,000 disabled people in Blackpool
Right now having a disabled bus pass doesn’t mean what it should.
If you're a disabled person in Blackpool relying on your bus pass, it only works on weekdays between 9.30am and 11pm. If you need to get to an early hospital appointment or an evening shift, your pass won't help you.
Buses are the most used form of public transport in the country and for many disabled people they're not a convenience – they're the only way to get to work, to college, to medical appointments, or simply to see friends and family. A bus pass that doesn't work when you need it isn't really freedom to travel at all.
That's about to change. The government has announced that from April 2027, these time restrictions will be lifted for good. Disabled bus pass holders across the whole of England, including the 5,061 people in Blackpool who currently hold one, will be able to travel for free, any time, day or night.
Greater Manchester already scrapped the restriction back in March this year but elsewhere, people are stuck with a patchwork of different rules, and in most places, including Blackpool, the bizarre restriction still applies.
It makes no sense and it’s simply not fair. Backed by £60 million of government funding, this change means every disabled bus pass in England will work the same way, wherever you live.
Removing this barrier will open up access to jobs, training and opportunities that have been harder to reach and it builds on other steps this government has already taken to make transport fairer and more affordable – the £2 bus fare cap, free bus travel for under-16s this summer, and the Bus Services Act, the biggest reform of England's bus system in 40 years, putting more control over local services into the hands of the communities who use them.
Access to transport shouldn't depend on your postcode and it shouldn't come with a curfew. This is a genuine, practical improvement for thousands of people in Blackpool. I’ll continue pushing to make sure our town gets the transport investment it needs.
