From 6 April 2010, the age of eligibility for concessionary travel for women will be pension age and for men it will be the pensionable age of a woman born on the same day.

The state pension age for women is rising by five years over a period of ten years. The age of eligibility will rise, in stages, between 2010 and 2020. The earliest age for men and women to get bus passes will therefore rise gradually, from 60 on 6 April 2010 to 65 on 5 April 2020. The Government decided that this would be the fairest method, rather than introduce a one-off rise which would leave those currently close to retirement age facing a full five-year delay.

The age of eligibility for the state pension is scheduled to rise by two months every one month. This means the earliest date on which you can get your bus pass will depend on which month you were born in and will not fall on your birthday.

Example dates of eligibility

There is also a ready reckoner tool which enables people affected by the pension age changes to see at what age they become eligible for their  state pension (opens in a new window) and associated benefits. This will also be your entitlement date to a bus pass.

For the purposes of working out the date of eligibility for the bus pass using this tool, you should enter your gender as female. The date of state pension age calculated will be the date on which you become eligible for the concessionary bus pass. However if you are male, this will not necessarily be the same date on which you become entitled to the state pension.

If you currently have a bus pass you will be unaffected by these changes. Similarly, if you have not taken up your entitlement to a bus pass, you will be unaffected by these changes as long as your 60 birthday is before 6 April 2010.