Public transport - Overview

To plan a journey by public transport, you can use the national Traveline service at at www.traveline.info.

For other enquiries please contact the bus operators direct.

Bus fares and tickets

Please contact the relevant service operator for details of fares, season tickets and special offers.

On 1 October, Stagecoach, Grant Palmer, Uno and Bedford Borough Council relaunched the ‘Cygnet pass.

This enables bus users to switch freely between the three local bus operators without the need to buy multiple tickets. The pass will operate as a paper ticket, which will be sold and accepted by Bedford Borough’s three largest bus operators- Stagecoach, Grant Palmer and Uno.

This ticket will allow unlimited travel on any Stagecoach, Grant Palmer and Uno bus in the Stagecoach Megarider zone, across a day or a week and you can mix and match bus providers. 

The Cygnet travel zone equates to the area currently covered by the Stagecoach Megarider which is the whole of Bedford and Kempston, as well as surrounding villages such as Bromham, Oakley, Cople and Elstow. 

The price of a day ticket is £6 and week tickets are £18.

Service disruption 

Details of disruption due to severe weather conditions and flooding can be found on our travel disruption updates page.

Disabled people transportation

Disability Access to Transport in Bedford leaflet (PDF)

View a list of the accessible taxis in Bedford Borough: Accessible taxi list (PDF)

Further information can be found on our community transport page

Lost property

Most operators have a system for dealing with lost property. If you leave something behind, contact the operator directly to see if it has been found or handed in. Contact details are shown for each operator in the Bus timetables and maps web page

If you are unsure who to contact, call the Bedford Borough Council Bus Information Line on 01234 718 005 for further information.

Bank Holidays and schooldays

Bank Holiday services

Buses usually operate to a Sunday timetable on Bank Holidays but note that not all bus services run on a Sunday or a Bank Holiday.

However, unless stated, there is no service on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. Special timetables usually apply on Good Friday and between Christmas and New Year. For more information, please contact the relevant service operator.

School term dates

Some journeys only operate on schooldays and others only during school holidays. For information on this view, the term dates for Bedford Borough. Please note that term dates for some schools, particularly the Harpur Trust schools and those in neighbouring counties, may vary from the dates shown.

Also, some schools have in-term training days. To confirm if a service will operate on a given day, please contact the relevant service operator.

Enhanced partnership scheme

Notice of Intent to Prepare an Enhanced Partnership Plan and Schemes 21 June 2021.

As of the Portfolio holder meeting on 27 May 2021, Bedford Borough Council gave approval to proceed with the development of an Enhanced Partnership. The commencement of this is confirmed through this notice of the intention to prepare an Enhanced Partnership Plan and accompanying Enhanced Partnership Schemes, as required and set out in section 138F of the Transport Act 2000.

Bedford bus service improvement plan 

In March 2021, the Government announced its National Bus Strategy ‘Bus Back Better'. The aim was to dramatically improve bus services through greater local leadership, reversing the shift in journeys away from public transport during the Covid-19 pandemic and to encourage passengers back onto the bus.

The Strategy requires Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) and local bus operators to work, in partnership with local communities, to plan and deliver fully integrated services.

Within this strategy, there is a requirement for each Local Authority to develop and publish a Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP). 

The BSIP sets the outcomes that the LTA would like to see and how they will go about improving bus services.

Details of our submission can be viewed here: Bedford bus service improvement plan (PDF).

Bus passenger charter

The bus passenger charter sets out what customers can expect when planning and carrying out their journeys.

View the bus passenger charter (PDF)