Scotland’s National Concessionary Travel Scheme in Local Authorities: FOI release

Information requested

1. The number of residents eligible for Scotland’s National Concessionary Travel Scheme in each local authority area.

2. The total number of scheduled bus routes operating in each local authority area, broken down into:
a. Commercial routes
b. Supported/subsidised routes

3. Any reports, analysis, or internal correspondence held by Transport Scotland regarding the relationship between concessionary travel eligibility and bus service availability — including any identification of areas where eligible residents have no bus service or only a very limited service.

If available, the same data for each of the previous five years to allow for comparison over time. If any part of this request cannot be fulfilled, please provide the information that is available and indicate where the remaining information is held.

Response

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested. The reasons why we don't have the information are explained below.

1. The current number of valid National Entitlement cardholders with access to free bus travel, broken down by local authority area, as of 31 August 2025, was:

Local Authority	Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme	Older & Disabled Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme
Aberdeen City	33,465	57,327
Aberdeenshire	39,899	76,132
Angus Council	15,575	38,126
Argyll & Bute	10,458	32,734
City of Edinburgh	90,342	145,096
Clackmannanshire	5,903	13,992
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	3,244	9,094
Dumfries and Galloway	16,915	57,788
Dundee City	24,649	42,238
East Ayrshire	18,348	36,373
East Dunbartonshire	15,385	35,459
East Lothian	17,794	34,834
East Renfrewshire	16,584	27,081
Falkirk	21,558	42,305
Fife	62,251	118,053
Glasgow City	96,451	153,694
Highland	26,479	73,225
Inverclyde	11,798	25,596
Midlothian	15,442	27,655
Moray	12,371	27,908
North Ayrshire	20,646	44,396
North Lanarkshire	52,982	85,953
Orkney Islands	2,697	7,673
Perth & Kinross	20,623	50,028
Renfrewshire	27,607	52,528
Scottish Borders	14,739	37,313
Shetland Islands	3,595	7,453
South Ayrshire	13,816	39,185
South Lanarkshire	52,464	92,801
Stirling	12,505	24,728
West Dunbartonshire	14,612	27,213
West Lothian	26,073	46,502
Total as at 31 August 2025	817,270	1,590,483

Please note:

• Transport Scotland does not own the National Entitlement Card. Cardholder data is supplied by the National Entitlement Card Programme Office (NECPO).
• Cardholder data refers to the number of people with a valid NEC but does not include products which either start in the future or have expired.
• NECPO work with stakeholders and partners to carry out regular data cleansing of the customer database which may impact cardholder numbers when records are updated.
• These figures are regularly updated and can be accessed on the Transport Scotland website at Concessionary travel data | Transport Scotland.

2a and b. Transport Scotland does not hold this data. Service information data is only collected where the operator is claiming either the Network Support Grant or National Concessionary Travel Scheme reimbursement. As a bus service can operate through multiple local authority areas, this data is not available broken down by local authority area. You may find it helpful to contact the Regional Transport Partnerships (RTPs) to ascertain if this is data they can provide. A list of the seven RTPs can be found on the Transport Scotland website at Regional Transport Partnerships | Transport Scotland.

3. Transport Scotland does not hold the information you requested. Searches were carried out using “concessionary travel eligibility and bus service availability”, and no results were returned.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.