People living in the wider Bristol region can now get free bus travel during the month of their birthday. After brief delays to the launch of the birthday bus scheme, applications are now open for passes to get free journeys on most buses throughout the West of England.
The £8-million scheme will last a year and is aiming to encourage more people in Bristol, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset, Bath and North East Somerset to use the bus more often. Metro mayor Dan Norris said more people using the bus would help the climate and cut congestion.
The birthday bus scheme was announced in May by Mr Norris, but hit some delays to its launch. Despite being due to start this month, people were unable to apply for passes until now. It’s understood that the delays were due to the scheme getting government approval.
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Mr Norris said: “I hope Birthday Buses encourage new people to hop on the bus and try it out — perhaps for a regular commute, to go to the shops, a restaurant, or to spend their weekends enjoying the amazing attractions and great beauty of our region. If you try it, I think you might like it, and maybe even grow to love it.
“We really need more people using buses to cut congestion, pollution and noise — and meet our important and very ambitious 2030 net-zero targets. I hope this will also be a help to residents during this unprecedented cost-of-living crisis. So please sign up today for your free Birthday Bus pass.”
People need an address in the West of England and a digital photo to apply online. Critics of the scheme previously questioned whether the £8 million might be better spent on restoring some of the many subsidised bus routes across the region, which were recently scrapped.
Mr Norris added: “We can’t keep trying the same things on buses and hoping for different outcomes by magic. What’s great about Birthday Buses is it’s innovative and new. It’s about growing passenger numbers so that we can have a sustainable bus network.
“It’s also helpful for data collection so we can track which new passengers are using buses, how many people make a switch, and long-term changes in bus use. This in turn will assist in attracting even more passengers so as to make further improvements to the bus network.”
The West of England Combined Authority estimates that congestion costs the regional economy £300 million a year. The metro mayor added that his birthday bus plans had been “widely backed” by transport experts, including BusUsersUK who said the scheme was making the region “the envy of the country”.
