Would you give up your car for the bus?
This is the question that Catch The Bus Week, now in its sixth year, aims to answer.
Buses Minister Nusrat Ghani and other senior people kindly gave up part of their Monday morning to pose with Peter Hendy’s Routemaster and an electric bus outside Parliament, while operators across the country are using a range of offers to entice non-users to sample buses.
As mobile apps become more a part of everyday lines, many free travel offers this week are only available through apps, which also offer journey planning and in many cases, real time information.
Possibly the most eye-catching promotion was by the West Yorkshire Bus18 partnership that used cars daubed with the message ‘We’re through – I’m getting the bus’ sparking intrigue from passers-by, with many people believing they had witnessed the aftermath of a break-up.
Cars appeared in central locations in Halifax, Leeds, Wakefield, Bradford and Keighley.
Bus18 is made up of the county’s three major bus companies, First, Arriva and Transdev and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.
They are working together to improve customers’ experience and make bus travel a top choice. One of the main pledges is to improve air quality, supported by operators’ £23.5m investment in new low emission buses in 2017. Bus18 has also been awarded £2.4m Clean Bus Technology Funding and with Leeds City Council it will retro fit 200 buses with emission reducing equipment. Now that is good news.
