East Riding pass holders will gain the same enhanced all-day travel hours already available in Hull, with HEYCA funding one clearer regional offer.
A long-standing difference in concessionary bus travel between Hull and the East Riding will end from April 2027 after Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority's Executive Board approved plans to align enhanced travel hours across the region.
Eligible concessionary pass holders will be able to travel free of charge at any time of day across both Hull and the East Riding. Hull residents will keep the enhanced travel hours they already have, while HEYCA will fund equivalent enhanced hours in the East Riding.
The change follows repeated correspondence from residents and months of work by HEYCA's transport team after Mayor Luke Campbell MBE asked officers to look at how the two different arrangements could be brought into line without taking an existing benefit away from Hull residents.
A change residents have been asking for
Concessionary travel has been one of the transport issues raised repeatedly with the Mayor's office since the Combined Authority was established.
Residents in the East Riding have written about having to wait until 9.30am to use a pass on weekdays, including people travelling to early hospital appointments, volunteering, caring for relatives or simply trying to get on with their day.
Mayor Luke asked HEYCA's transport team to look at how the two arrangements could be brought into line. The principle was straightforward: protect Hull's existing enhanced offer and work out how eligible East Riding pass holders could receive equivalent enhanced hours.
What changes from April 2027
The English National Concessionary Travel Scheme gives eligible older and disabled people free local bus travel between 9.30am and 11pm on weekdays and all day at weekends and on bank holidays. Local transport authorities can choose to fund travel outside those hours.
Hull has historically funded an enhanced all-day offer for eligible journeys starting within the city, while the East Riding has generally applied the national 9.30am weekday start.
From April 2027, HEYCA will fund aligned enhanced operating hours so eligible concessionary pass holders can travel free at any time of day across Hull and East Yorkshire. No existing enhanced concessionary travel benefit available to Hull residents will be removed.
Mayor Luke Campbell MBE said -
"I've heard this again and again from residents since I became Mayor, particularly from residents in the East Riding who couldn’t understand why they had to wait until half nine when somebody a few miles away in Hull could use their pass earlier.
“I understood the frustration. If you’ve got an early hospital appointment, you’re caring for somebody or you just need to get out and get on with your day, a council boundary shouldn’t be getting in the way.
“When I asked the team to sort it, I was clear that we weren’t going to make Hull worse off to make things look fairer. Hull keeps what it has, and from April we’re bringing the East Riding up to the same enhanced hours.
“That’s the sort of thing I came into this job to get done. It might not sound like the biggest decision in the world, but for the people who rely on their bus pass it really matters. We’re one region now and people should start to feel the benefit of that.”
Simon Himsworth, Chief Executive of Age UK Hull and East Yorkshire, welcomed the news -
"I’m absolutely delighted to hear this news from the Mayor and Combined Authority. It brings pensioners living in East Riding, perhaps travelling to medical appointments in Hull and surrounding areas, onto a level playing field with those in Hull.
He continued -
"Across East Riding, nearly 50% of the population are older people. This will help make a difference to some of our most vulnerable communities at a time of rising cost of living challenges, particularly such as energy prices, going into the winter."
Why the change has taken work
Hull and the East Riding entered the Combined Authority with different local concessionary travel arrangements. HEYCA kept those arrangements in place while officers worked through the cost, funding, operator reimbursement and practical changes needed to bring the schemes together.
That work means the regional offer can now be aligned without reducing the enhanced concession already available in Hull.
One region, a more joined-up transport system
The decision is about more than one concessionary fare rule. HEYCA is bringing transport responsibilities together at a regional level, with the aim of making public transport simpler, reliable and more consistent across Hull and East Yorkshire.
Further work is being scoped on more integrated fares and ticketing, alongside wider plans for a better-connected bus network and stronger links between Hull, East Riding towns and villages, the coast and key destinations for work, health, education and leisure.
Aligning concessionary travel is an early practical step in that wider journey - removing an inherited difference between the two areas and making the system feel more joined up wherever somebody lives.
Supporting independence
For many older and disabled residents, concessionary travel is about independence as much as the cost of a journey. Earlier access can make a difference to whether somebody can attend an appointment, volunteer, see family, shop or take part in community life without relying on somebody else for a lift.
A single set of enhanced operating hours will also make the offer easier to explain and understand for people travelling across the Hull and East Riding boundary.
What happens next
HEYCA will now work with Hull City Council, East Riding of Yorkshire Council and local bus operators on the detailed arrangements ahead of the April 2027 start.
Clear information will be published for pass holders before the change takes effect, including how the enhanced hours will work in practice.
The concessionary travel decision is one of the first visible steps in HEYCA's wider work to build a more integrated public transport system across Hull and East Yorkshire.