You may know it as your bus pass, your Young Scot card or your Saltire card. Officially, it’s your National Entitlement Card and it allows you to access a host of national and local services including free transport. It is essentially a national smartcard and it is now becoming even easier to apply for one.
The smartcard scheme is run as a partnership between the Scottish Government, local councils and other partners.
Now, a new online National Entitlement Card application process has been launched.
East Dunbartonshire Council has signed up for a channel which allows residents over 60, those with a disability and eligible young people to access this new process. Previously, it was necessary to attend a transport hub to apply for a card but now you can complete the application from the comfort of your own home.
The card allows free bus travel to people aged over 60 and people with disabilities on any local bus service or long-distance coach service anywhere in Scotland. The card can also be used by those living in the area covered by the Strathclyde Concessionary Travel Scheme to get cheaper fares on trains including on the Glasgow Subway.
There is also a Young Persons' National Entitlement Card - known as the Young Scot card - which is available to everyone aged between 11 and 25. It offers concessionary travel to cardholders aged between 16 and 18 and those aged 19 to 25 who are full-time volunteers.
Joint Leader of the Council, Andrew Polson said, "As we move towards a more digital world, we are working hard to make more of our services available online. In future, it will be far easier to apply for a National Entitlement Card for those who are eligible."
Joint Leader of the Council, Vaughan Moody added, "Residents can log into MyAccount to apply for new or replacement card. This means that you don’t need to input all your details again and should make for a much faster and easier application. If you haven’t got a MyAccount, I would encourage you to look into it as more transactions become available via our website."
You can apply for your new National Entitlement Card on the Get Your NEC website.
There is also information on the National Entitlement Card page.
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