Shoppers heading into Swansea city centre this Christmas can travel on buses for free every Saturday and Sunday during November and December.
Swansea Council has confirmed the ‘Free-Ride Swansea’ public transport offer will be back up and running for the festive period and follows a successful free travel initiative which ran throughout the summer holidays.
Starting this Saturday (November 19), the latest free offer will run every Saturday & Sunday in the run up to Christmas Day and will continue for a further five days from 27 – 31 December.
The Council is urging the travelling public to make use of the free bus offer in an effort to lessen the financial hardships being felt by families during the ongoing economic climate.
Swansea Council Leader, Rob Stewart, welcomed the latest offer and hopes everyone will take advantage. He said: “This is the second Christmas period in a row that we have provided free transport for families in Swansea.
“Christmas can be an expensive time for everyone but even more so while we are still experiencing increases in living costs. We have committed to ensuring families in Swansea can save a bit of money on travel costs, leave the car at home and save their petrol money for enjoying the festive period.
“This offer is not just about bringing people into the city centre – although we do want businesses to benefit from seeing more people coming into the city. This is also about giving the public the chance to travel all across Swansea on, whether it’s to visit family members or just enjoy what Swansea has to offer.”
Latest figures estimate that previous free bus offers have led increases in people using public transport with passenger numbers increasing up to 30 percent more than at other times.
Andrew Stevens, Cabinet Member for Environment and Infrastructure, said: “One of the main aims has been to encourage more people to use public transport in Swansea.
“We know lots of people travel by car and may not have been on a bus previously. This free bus offer is a great way of introducing more people to public transport and reduce the number of cars on our roads.
“It’s important we support public transport operators in Swansea and do what we can to increase passenger numbers.”
