'Incredible' number of journeys on green buses

Hereford's fleet of green Zipper buses have proved popular with passengers, the council says

A fleet of buses, offering free travel, have proven to be popular with travellers during their first year in service, a local authority has said.

Hereford City Council said its three electric Zipper buses had averaged almost 500 passenger journeys per day between March and October.

Their busiest single day over the past year saw more than 800 passenger journeys, the council said.

The buses have been named Handsome Norman, Pilot and Green Horse have been providing free-of-charge travel across the city since November 2023.

A council spokesperson said a typical month saw more than 15,000 journeys made by passengers – with October being the best month recorded so far, with more than 17,000 journeys.

"These incredible figures reflect the increasing popularity of the Zipper bus," they said.

They claimed journey numbers were steadily trending upwards, and said the town's Asda supermarket was the most popular bus stop, with the train station second and Maylord Orchards third busiest.