Lancaster Bus Users' Group has called upon Lancashire County Council to implement a temporary relaxation on the use of English National Concessionary Bus Passes (NoW Cards) to support the roll out of the government's Covid-19 vaccination programme.
Three major vaccination centres have been established in the Lancaster District at the Health Innovation Campus at Lancaster University, Lancaster Town Hall and Morecambe Football Ground. All three sites are easily accessible by bus but the Group is concerned that older people, especially those living a distance from any of the sites, will be put off accepting morning appointments if they have to travel before 09.30 and pay high fares to reach them. Reductions in bus service levels from Monday, 25th January will also hake it harder for people, with many services reducing to one bus per hour or less.
In a letter to Councillor Keith Iddon, Cabinet Member for Highways & Transport, the Group has asked that the ban on free travel before 09.30 be lifted at least until the end of the current phase of the rollout by when most older and more vulnerable people will have been vaccinated.
