A SCHEME giving people in the West of England free bus travel during their birthday month has been quietly axed.
The birthday bus scheme allowed people in Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset to sign up for a pass for free bus travel, valid throughout the month of their birthday.
The scheme, funded by the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) and North Somerset Council, was launched in August 2023 and was relaunched for another year in December 2025.
But WECA has now quietly confirmed that it will not be repeated again. The end of the scheme was mentioned in a single sentence at the end of a WECA press release, which said: “The birthday-related bus scheme in the West of England came to an end late last year, with no plans to continue it after a fall in the number of new users and wider increased pressures on funding.”
Around 72,000 people applied for a birthday bus pass in the first year of the scheme, making a collective 1.17 million journeys. Some people used the pass more than 200 times in the month of their birthday. But the scheme was criticised by some as a “gimmick” and a task group looking into the project said it was benefiting richer people more than poorer people.
Former West of England mayor Dan Norris had said the scheme was his main achievement in the role.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service in 2024: “It’s important to get people out of their cars and it’s also helped those who are totally reliant on public transport in a cost-of-living crisis.”
Rather than birthday buses, Helen Godwin, who succeeded Mr Norris as West of England mayor, has run a ‘kids go free’ scheme, giving children aged 5-15 free bus travel on the region’s buses over the holidays.
Children’s journeys increased by 30% over the summer holiday when it was first run and by 50% when it was repeated over the Christmas holiday.
WECA has received a £42.4m bus grant from the government for the next three years, including £9.9m for fares initiatives such as the child fare cap and the ‘kids go free’ scheme.
But people living in rural villages have urged WECA to prioritise keeping threatened supported bus routes going over schemes like ‘kids go free’.
Fiona Gourley, Bath and North East Somerset Council’s rural transport project lead, said: “It is only good if you actually have a bus.”
John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporting Service
WECA birthday bus pass scheme axed
