This follows an amazing 100,000 free journeys being taken last month, twice as many trips as during the first month of the first year of the Birthday Buses offer.
The New Year is the perfect time for people to get their month of free bus travel!
Dan Norris, the Mayor of the West of England
Almost 43,000 people have already signed up at BirthdayBus.co.uk. People across the West of England really are voting with their feet – and their free Birthday Bus passes – to enjoy many more happy returns and singles.
Local passengers are continuing to benefit from some of the lowest fares in the country thanks to our bus fare cap, set 60p below the national cap per journey. Birthday Buses save people almost £100 each on top of that with a month of free bus travel.
December 2024, the first month of return of the Birthday Buses offer, saw more than 100,000 free journeys by Birthday Bus pass-holders, despite disruption to services caused by Storm Darragh and reduced services over Christmas/New Year. August 2023 (the first month of the first year of the offer) saw around 49,500 free journeys; overall, the first year of the offer saw almost 1.2 million free journeys taken by Birthday Bus pass-holders.
Nearly 43,000 people have now signed up for their free Birthday Bus pass, with over 15,500 children and young people (more than 36%). If you sign up before your 21st birthday, you receive a second month of free Birthday Bus travel – helping to encourage the next generation to travel more sustainably by bus.
Residents with a February birthday should apply on BirthdayBus.co.uk by 23 January to ensure that their free Birthday Bus pass arrives in time for the start of next month.
Original press release by the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority.
Leaders across the West have welcomed greater investment through today’s Spending Review, with a record three-quarters of a billion pounds of transport funding confirmed for the West. That means better buses, more trains, and mass transit – with trams and much more on the table. The Treasury has also today confirmed plans to improve rail links between Bristol and Cardiff.
The second phase of a project - to reduce congestion, improve the reliability of buses, and promote active travel along a major transport route in Bristol - will get underway from Monday 16 June 2025.
That’s summer sorted. Children and young people under the age of 16 are set to be able to travel for free on buses across our region during the school holidays, thanks to new investment proposed by the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority.
Bristol’s first electrified bus depot was opened on 3 June 2025 by a government minister and the West of England’s new mayor.
Leaders across the region have today welcomed more than three-quarters of a billion pounds set to be invested in transport projects in the West. The Chancellor has announced plans to more than double investment in local transport in England’s city regions, committing to “investment in all parts of the country, not just a few.”
