First Bus and Stagecoach announce free Aberdeen weekend bus travel throughout January
- First Bus and Stagecoach will offer free travel across Aberdeen city and shire every weekend in January.
- Both operators are reinvesting the savings from the introduction of the new bus gates in the city to benefit customers.
First Bus and Stagecoach have joined forces to offer everyone in Aberdeen city and shire free travel every Saturday and Sunday in January. This is a result of savings made following the introduction of the new bus gates in the city centre.
The offer is a direct impact of the improvements both operators have seen thanks to the new bus priority measures in Aberdeen with the new bus gates already speeding up journey times for over 600,000 people each month in the city centre.
Both First Bus and Stagecoach committed to reinvesting savings made from the new measures to directly benefit customers and this offer could be the sign of things to come if bus priority measures are further enhanced throughout Aberdeen.
The free travel offer is designed to provide just that by reducing costs at a time of year when finances can be tight for many while encouraging more people to use the bus and increase footfall in the city centre.
The new bus priority measures are already reducing pollution and congestion in the city centre, while slashing journey times by up to 25%, with bus passengers seeing an improvement in punctuality and reliability.
Graeme Macfarlan, Commercial Director for First Bus Scotland, said: “We are delighted to be able to offer free travel across all First Bus routes in Aberdeen throughout January and the subsequent benefits that will bring to people travelling around the city.
“We understand January can be a difficult month for people for many different reasons and we felt this offer was a great way to reinvest the savings we are seeing from the new bus priority measures in the city centre while also encouraging more people to take the bus more often.
“Sustainable, reliable and affordable transport is a cornerstone of making any city centre a success and we will continue to play our part alongside our investment in zero emission vehicles with nearly 50 now in operation across the city each day.”
David Beaton, Managing Director for Stagecoach North Scotland, said: "This initiative is part of our ongoing commitment to working together as local public transport providers to ensure a bright, clean, and prosperous future for Aberdeen.
"Through providing free travel on our city services and within the Aberdeen commuter zone, we hope to give the city centre a boost during a challenging time of year, both for customers and local businesses, whilst encouraging modal shift to more sustainable forms of transport."
Free bus travel will be available on the following dates in January: 6th, 7th, 13th, 14th, 20th, 21st, 27th, 28th. Concession card holders will still be required to scan their card during the offer period.
For more information, please visit firstbus.co.uk/Aberdeen or stagecoachbus.com
Notes to editors
Stagecoach T&Cs
This offer is available on all other Stagecoach North Scotland services for journeys within the Aberdeen commuter zone, with the exception of night buses.
Journeys must start and end within the Aberdeen commuter zone.
Concession pass users should use their pass as normal.
(View zone map: https://tiscon-maps-stagecoachbus.s3.amazonaws.com/ZoneMaps/North%20Scotland/Bluebird%20Zone%20Map%20March%202021.pdf)
About First Bus
First Bus is one of the UK’s largest bus operators. Making journeys easier for our customers, we were the first national bus operator to accept contactless card payments across all of our services and our First Bus App is voted ‘best in class’ amongst UK bus operators. Our most recent investments are in new, state-of-the-art buses across our key networks.
We work proactively with our local authority partners, making a positive impact on air quality, tackling congestion and improving customer experience. We are focused on First Bus becoming a leader in the transition to a low-carbon future and are committed to operating a zero-emission bus fleet by 2035; we have pledged not to purchase any new diesel buses after December 2022. We also operate the Aircoach network in Ireland.
First Bus is a division of FirstGroup.
First Bus is an equal opportunity employer
First Bus is an excellent place to work with opportunities for a rewarding career.
We are committed to equality of opportunity, diversity and inclusion. We believe diverse experiences and attitudes help us better understand the needs of our customers.
We are working to increase the number of females applying for bus driver roles within the business as we do believe businesses are more likely to have continued success if our bus companies reflect the communities that they serve.
For more information on First Bus: news-scot.firstbus.co.uk
About Stagecoach North Scotland
Stagecoach North Scotland run safe, reliable, clean, punctual and comfortable local bus services through the North East and Highlands of Scotland.
Our services cover Aberdeen city and shire, Buchan, Moray, Inverness, Badenoch and Strathspey, Caithness, Easter Ross, Sutherland, Orkney and Skye.
We currently operate 35 fully-electric double decker buses on routes within Aberdeen city and shire.