Introduction
The National Concessionary Travel Scheme for Older and Disabled People (the Scheme) was introduced in April 2006. The Scheme is accessed via a National Entitlement Card (NEC) which provides free bus travel to cardholders with free travel on registered local and long-distance bus services throughout Scotland, at any time of the day for any number of journeys.
There are five separate NEC types:
- over 60
- disabled
- disabled plus companion (+1)
- sight impaired
- sight impaired plus companion (+1)
Bus operators are reimbursed by Transport Scotland for carrying cardholders. More than 140 bus operators in Scotland participate in the Scheme.
In August 2025, Transport Scotland commissioned an independent evaluation of the Scheme. The aims of the evaluation were to:
- understand how the Scheme works, who is using it, how it is being used and the benefits it brings
- identify any differences in usage and experiences between groups of cardholders
- undertake a value for money assessment in order to understand the value of benefits delivered through the Scheme
The evaluation was focused largely on the use and impacts of the Scheme, although a small component considered how the Scheme operates in practice.
The evaluation included a survey and series of focus groups with cardholders, interviews with bus operators and other stakeholders, analysis of existing secondary data, and a value for money assessment. Overall, 2,502 cardholders responded to the survey, which was largely hosted online, and 65 cardholders took part in focus groups (or one-to-one interviews). Six bus operators provided feedback via interview or in writing, and two third sector organisations were interviewed. The research materials including the survey questionnaire, and focus group and interview topic guides are available on the Transport Scotland website.
This report details the key findings of the primary data collection and secondary data analysis. The evaluation report and the value for money assessment are available separately. In addition, a separate Annex document is also available which includes additional tabular results from the cardholder survey.
The following percentages are based on those respondents that answered the relevant survey questions. Please note that due to the sampling methodology, the survey findings provide insight into the views and experiences of respondents but cannot be generalised to the wider population. No statistical testing has been conducted and differences between groups of respondents may reflect sample variability.
Unless otherwise specified, references in the report to disabled cardholders/cards relates to the type of NEC held by a person and incorporates all of the following NEC types: disabled; disabled plus companion (+1); sight impaired; sight impaired plus companion (+1).
To ensure the research materials (e.g. survey questionnaire) were accessible to participants, the term “free bus pass/bus pass” was used, as this is more readily and easily understood, and reflects what the NEC and the Scheme is referred to colloquially. When reporting directly on the survey findings, quoting the survey question and response options, and providing quotes from the focus groups and interviews, “ free bus pass/bus pass” is used throughout the report to ensure consistency with what participants were asked about and their responses. Elsewhere in the report, NEC, card or Scheme is used depending on the context to align with Transport Scotland and other stakeholder terminology.