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To: Department of Transport, Local councils/Regional Mayors
Heatwaves and Bus Passes
I'm asking for morning time restrictions on bus passes to be lifted when there's a health alert for extreme heat.
Why is this important?
The English National Travel Concession scheme provides passes that offer free bus travel for pensioners and disabled people. But on weekdays, free travel only applies from 09:30 am for pensioners, and 09:00 am for disabled people. (A few areas use local discretion to allow for an earlier start, but all seem to have some morning restiction).
My rationale is that during very hot weather it's obviously better - and less risky for the elderly and the vulnerable - to get things done early, before the worst of the heat builds up. But pensioners (or disabled people)on a tight budget, relying on bus passes to get around, can't go to the shops till after 9:30 (or 09:00), and the heat is really building up by the time they get home and into the shade.
High temperatures are dangerous, especially to people who are sick, disabled or elderly. A recent Met Office report estimated that the heatwaves in May and June 2026 caused 2,700 more deaths than would have been expected without the heatwaves.
My rationale is that during very hot weather it's obviously better - and less risky for the elderly and the vulnerable - to get things done early, before the worst of the heat builds up. But pensioners (or disabled people)on a tight budget, relying on bus passes to get around, can't go to the shops till after 9:30 (or 09:00), and the heat is really building up by the time they get home and into the shade.
High temperatures are dangerous, especially to people who are sick, disabled or elderly. A recent Met Office report estimated that the heatwaves in May and June 2026 caused 2,700 more deaths than would have been expected without the heatwaves.
The report quotes Dr. Malcolm Mistry, Assistant Professor in Climate and Geo-spatial Modelling, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM):
“We are still in the first half of summer in the UK and large parts of England and Wales have already experienced two record-breaking heatwaves, in May and June, triggering extreme heat-health alerts across England. With climate change driven by human activity making summer heatwaves more frequent and more intense, these spikes of extreme hot weather are rapidly evolving into a major health risk for people in the UK.
“It is vital that action on adapting Britain’s homes, workplaces, and critical infrastructure to extreme heat outpaces these health risks, especially if we are to protect those most vulnerable to its impacts, such as older people, babies, and children.”
One quick and simple helpful adaptation to our transport infrastructure would be to lift the morning time restriction for bus passes when there is a health alert for excessive heat. This would enable pensioners and disabled people to get to the shop and get home again in the early morning, before the worst of the heat builds up.
So I’m asking the new government – with its well documented interest in buses – to change the rules to enable earlier bus travel for pensioners and disabled people in the heat. If that would take time, as an interim measure, local councils and Mayors could do this for their own areas under discretionary powers. There should be little or no extra cost – this would change the time at which pensioners travel, rather than add to the number of journeys made. And any cost would be trivial compared to the cost to the NHS of emergency treatment for heat-related problems.
So I’m asking the new government – with its well documented interest in buses – to change the rules to enable earlier bus travel for pensioners and disabled people in the heat. If that would take time, as an interim measure, local councils and Mayors could do this for their own areas under discretionary powers. There should be little or no extra cost – this would change the time at which pensioners travel, rather than add to the number of journeys made. And any cost would be trivial compared to the cost to the NHS of emergency treatment for heat-related problems.
