Should people who give up owning a car get free bus travel?
Free bus travel in England is not linked to car ownership: the national concessionary scheme gives free off-peak travel to people of state pension age and to eligible disabled people. Most single adult fares outside London are capped at £3, falling to £2 from 1 January 2027 under a July 2026 government announcement backed by £454 million. Some councils have paid people to scrap cars, such as Birmingham's 2021 scheme offering £2,000 of travel credit, but these were tied to clean air zones rather than permanent free travel.
32 Opinions
The country is not prepared for this. Bus services are often non existent on Sundays or stop early in the evening. Bus services need to be improved first before rolling it out as an option.
If people voluntarily give up the use of a car they surely will be saving a lot of expenditure so why can’t they then afford Public Transport? Nothing is free. Cars provide independence but the State doesn’t like this hence the continued attempts to make car use unacceptable.
Car ownership is a choice so giving one up is also a choice. If we want people to use them less we need to invest in public transport (perhaps further nationalisation) for more convenience and more reasonable fares. Personally if travelling into my local city I always choose bus even with kids in tow as it’s always cheaper than fuel and parking.
Unless they are pensioners
The last thing we need is another handout. Also, what is to stop people buying a barely functional banger to scrap to exploit this scheme
Free bus travel for ex-car owners is an expensive, unenforceable gimmick that penalises people who already rely on public transport. The real reason people drive isn't just fare prices—it's that local buses outside a few areas are unreliable or infrequent. Look at council-run successes like Reading Buses: when you build a reliable, frequent, and affordable service, people choose to use it naturally. Public funds should go into improving bus infrastructure for everyone.
How will it work? If a family owns 1 car and gives this up, who gets the bus pass? Why is it necessary? Who will fund the bus pass and make good the loss of fuel and motoring taxes?
How do you carry a ladder, bags of cement, bags of compost or even a large monthly shop on a bus? & this becomes even harder if you’re old, disabled or have a baby in a buggy etc. The idea is ridiculous.
This is incredibly impractical for some people, especially in rural areas. Frankly, the idea of being forced onto the bus full of dodgy strangers these days fills me with dread. The only exception would be forcing people to put their kids on the school bus as driving your kids to school seems crazy to me.
Free bus travel would be great - it disincentives car ownership and is a fantastic option for the poor, elderly or disabled. Actually linking it to car ownership is bizarre though.