Free weekend bus services in Herefordshire come to a stop

Free weekend bus travel in Herefordshire will end on 28 August

Free weekend bus services are coming to a stop after a year because a council cannot afford to subsidise them.

Herefordshire Council introduced a dozen new routes, all free to use, to boost the local economy and public transport uptake after the pandemic.

Almost 170,000 journeys have been taken at weekends, however the service is no longer financially viable.

From September, six of the more popular new routes will continue on Sundays, however passengers will have to pay.

"We knew we couldn't afford to fund the scheme in the longer term, unfortunately," said councillor John Harrington.

"We introduced free weekend bus travel to encourage people back onto public transport to visit new places following the pandemic to help support residents and the local economy."

Called the Bus-It scheme, the free weekend travel was funded by a government Covid-19 recovery grant worth £800,000.

Services

The council said it would continue to support the most popular Sunday services, including:

• The 34/40 service between Ross-on-Wye and Monmouth

• The 420 between Bromyard and Hereford

• The 476 between Ledbury and Hereford

• The 461 between Kington and Hereford

• The 426/492 service which travels between Leominster and Hereford via Bodenham

The less popular Sunday services that will end are:

• The 36 between Monmouth and Hereford

• The 454 between Fownhope and Hereford

• The 675 between Ledbury and Great Malvern

• The 496/401 between Pembridge and Leominster

"I hope that people have enjoyed using the scheme and found that there are alternatives to using the car, sitting back and taking in the scenery as they travel around our beautiful county," Councillor Harrington said.

"I hope it has shown that you don't necessarily have to drive to places you could get a bus to."