First Bus reveals nearly 20% increase in bus passengers as result of free weekend travel offer
First Bus has revealed a nearly 20% increase in weekend bus passengers since launching its weekend free travel offer throughout January.
People across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire have been taking advantage of the offer from First Bus and Stagecoach in large numbers over the first two weekends of the new year, benefitting directly from the improvements the operators have seen thanks to the new bus priority measures in the city.
Both First Bus and Stagecoach committed to reinvesting savings made from the new measures to benefit customers with the new bus gates already speeding up journey times for buses in the city centre.
The free travel offer will continue to run over the next two weekends and is designed to help to reduce costs for customers 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. Concession card holders will still be asked to scan their card during the offer period.
The new bus priority measures are already reducing pollution and congestion in the city centre, while slashing journey times by up to 25%. As a result, over 600,000 bus passengers each month are seeing an improvement in punctuality and reliability.
Duncan Cameron, Managing Director for First Bus Scotland, said: “We are delighted to see so many people taking advantage of our offer of free travel across all First Bus routes in Aberdeen throughout January, the subsequent benefits that will bring to people travelling around the city and the positive impact this will have on local businesses.
“The significant increase in passenger numbers highlights the appetite people have to utilise public transport in the city and shows the importance of bus priority measures such as the bus gates in helping to reduce congestion and, in turn, improve journey times for hundreds of thousands of passengers in the city each month.
“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.”
Councillor Miranda Radley, Vice Convener of Aberdeen City Council’s Net Zero, Environment and Transport Committee, said: "The free bus travel on weekends in January is a welcome move from the bus operators in the city, building on the efficiencies made through the installation of the bus gates, providing a boost to businesses in the City Centre.
"Successful cities have successful public transport and these type of schemes from bus operators will get more folk on the bus and continue to use these services in future."
Free bus travel will continue to be available on the following dates in January: 20th, 21st, 27th, 28th. For more information, please visit firstbus.co.uk/Aberdeen or stagecoachbus.com
Notes to editors
Notes to Editors
Stagecoach T&Cs
- This offer is available on Stagecoach North Scotland Aberdeen City services 59 and 727, as well all other Stagecoach North Scotland services for journeys within the Aberdeen commuter zone.
- 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.
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.
For more information on First Bus: news-scot.firstbus.co.uk