Heavily discounted student and staff bus travel

From 1 July 2026, Oxford Brookes students and staff will be able to purchase an annual CityZone pass for £270 - a 63% saving compared to the standard price of £732 - for sustainable travel on all Oxford Bus Company (OBC) buses in Oxford. 

To purchase this heavily discounted annual bus directly from the Oxford Bus Company (OBC) website from 1 July 2026, staff and students will need to apply using their Oxford Brookes email address. Students will therefore need to be enrolled and know their University email address before applying.

An annual CityZone pass can be activated at any point within a year of being purchased.

Prices for discounted travel offers are likely to increase in future years in response to rising cost considerations such as inflation.

An option to split the cost of the heavily discounted £270 CityZone pass will also be introduced following feedback. Students and staff will be able to pay £135 for a CityZone pass which will be valid for a whole semester (covering 1 September to 31 January for Semester 1, and 1 January to 30 June for Semester 2). The Semester 1 CityZone offer will be available to purchase in late August 2026 directly from OBC.

The table below provides information on both pass types of CityZone pass:

Prices for discounted travel offers are likely to increase in future years in response to rising cost considerations such as inflation.

As well as being able to purchase a heavily discounted annual or Semester CityZone pass, from 1 July 2026 Oxford Brookes students and staff can also benefit from the following discounted bus and coach offers from OBC. 

Prices for discounted travel offers are likely to increase in future years in response to rising cost considerations such as inflation.

Further information on these savings can be found on the OBC website.

CityZone tickets cover all Oxford Bus Company (OBC) and Thames Travel services in the Oxford area. The zone covers the majority of greater Oxford, to Kennington in the south, Cumnor to the west and Wheatley to the east, as well as Blackbird Leys, Wytham and Kidlington. Stagecoach services are not included. 

A map of the CityZone area and the routes it covers, can be found on the OBC website.

Following feedback and a review of the existing arrangements, we are simplifying the CityZone bus pass to provide a single, discounted price for all Oxford Brookes students and staff from July 2026. By doing so, we believe the process for applying for a heavily discounted bus pass will be much simpler and avoid some of the confusion and issues experienced with the previous offer. 

The University has also provided an option to split the cost of the heavily discounted £270 CityZone pass will also be introduced following feedback. Students and staff will be able to pay £135 for a CityZone pass which will be valid for a whole semester (September to January for Semester 1, and January to June for Semester 2). Further information on this offer is provided in a separate Frequently Asked Question on this webpage.

In addition to the heavily discounted CityZone offer, the University has secured discounts on a range of other bus and coach options, as set out in a separate frequently asked question.

The University has committed to continuing to provide Financial Aid funding for students who may require additional support to access and participate in their studies. The primary purpose of University Financial Aid is to relieve financial difficulties which might impact on a student's participation in higher education at Oxford Brookes and to help them remain at the University. 

Further information can be found on the Financial Aid webpages.

The heavily discounted annual bus ticket is the same price for all students and staff. If you have a long-term condition that affects your ability to access campus, please contact the Inclusive Support Service for support by emailing inclusivesupport@brookes.ac.uk .There is also information on the Oxfordshire County Council website on its disabled person's concessionary fares bus pass which students and staff may be eligible for.

You will need to apply for the new discounted bus pass with your Oxford Brookes email address, as this will form part of the approval process. Students will therefore need to be enrolled (and know their Brookes email address) before applying for, and receiving their new discounted bus pass.

The University will not provide free travel on buses or reimburse journeys made before the issuing of a discounted bus pass. We therefore recommend that students and staff who wish to apply for a discounted bus pass do so as soon as they are able to when the application process opens.

After you buy your discounted bus pass, you will receive an email from the Oxford Bus Company (OBC) confirming your purchase details and informing you how to download the app to use your pass.

Find further details of how to use your pass is available on the OBC website.

Oxford Brookes staff and students have until the end of June 2026 to benefit from a range of currently available bus travel discounts. This includes a final opportunity to buy a CityZone annual bus pass for the best available price of £230, which can be activated at any point within a year of being purchased. 

If you currently have an active annual bus pass for the 2025/26 academic year, you can purchase an additional pass before the end of June (which will be stored in your Oxford Bus Company app wallet) and activate it once your current pass expires (or at any time within 12 months of purchase).

The final details of the bus routes are currently being discussed with the potential bus suppliers. As with the current scheme, the new heavily discounted bus pass will give you access to all the supplier's public bus services within the Oxford city-wide network. This will support students moving across the city for study, work, placement travel, and leisure or social activities.

We are currently awaiting confirmation from bus operators on which specific services will continue to serve Harcourt Hill and the surrounding area from September 2026. Currently, Oxford Bus Company’s (OBC) 4A and 4B routes serve the Harcourt Hill bus stop and the Elms Rise stop on Lime Road - both stops are approximately 0.3 miles from Westminster Hall.  

However this may change from September as OBC reviews its routes in collaboration with Oxfordshire County Council. They also need to consider the expected reopening of the Botley Road in September 2026, which would allow bus services to continue into the city centre and beyond without the need for a change at the train station.

Whatever is decided by OBC and OCC, we expect that buses serving the city centre (and onto the Headington Campus) will continue operating at stops close to the Harcourt Hill Campus. Once we have confirmation of the new arrangements from September 2026, they will be added to these Frequently Asked Questions.

The University will not be reintroducing a bus pass that is similar to the type provided before the 2025/26 academic year. The University’s Oxford-based teaching and library facilities have been based at Headington Campus since the start of the 2025/26 academic year. There is therefore no longer a need for students to travel between the Headington, Wheatley and Harcourt Hill campuses for academic purposes. The new offer, which will save pass holders hundreds of pounds a year compared to the standard annual tickets, provides access to a wider range of bus service across the city’s bus network. The University’s significant investment in the new, heavily discounted bus pass offer is therefore a more targeted way to support those students who benefit most from discounted travel.