RNIB comment on free 24 hour bus travel for disabled people in England
A smiling elderly passenger wearing a pink fleece chats to the bus driver who wears a jacket, white shirt and tie onboard a bus.
The Government has announced that from next April, eligible disabled people across England will get free bus travel all day, every day, following the lifting of time restrictions on concessionary passes.
Erik Matthies, RNIB Policy Lead who has sight loss, said:
"Whether it is before or after 9.30am, I am still visually impaired all day long. Work, education, hospital appointments and other commitments don’t wait for us to be able to start our journeys until later.
“Aside from the cost itself, paying for bus journeys can often be an inaccessible and stressful process and so this move will help to open up bus travel to more blind and partially sighted people. RNIB has long backed calls for free all day bus travel for all disabled people, in all parts of England, and warmly welcome this announcement.”
Read RNIB's 'All Aboard' report from last year which examines blind and partially sighted people's experiences with bus travel.