Catch the Bus Week 2016 highlights

Chief Executive of Greener Journeys, Claire Haigh provides a summary of the highlights from this year’s successful Catch the Bus Week…

Claire Haigh, Chief Executive of Greener Journeys and Bus Minister Andrew Jones MP at the Brixton Bus Depot

The Greener Journeys team is still savouring the success of our biggest and best Catch the Bus Week yet. The annual celebration of the bus, now in its fourth year, saw events and activities going on across the country.

Claire Haigh

As CEO of Greener Journeys I travelled the country from Liverpool to Birmingham to Brixton in London meeting with MPs, Government Ministers, Local Authorities, Transport Authorities and bus companies. Just a few of the almost 300 different stakeholders who helped to ensure the success of #CTBW 2016.

We were thrilled with the level of support we received and I want to say a huge thank you to everyone involved. None of it would have been possible without our fantastic supporters across the country.

Catch the Bus Week 2016 saw so many of our friends seize the chance to promote the benefits of the bus using social media, special events, competitions, giveaways, educational programmes and charity partnerships.

Greener Journeys will be a publishing a full round up soon, in the meantime, here is just a glimpse of some of the highlights from Catch the Bus Week 2016!

A successful Catch the Bus Week 2016…

Once again #CTBW received Government backing with the Department for Transport reminding people about the importance of #CTBW and urging them to plan their bus journeys online to make transport safer and easier. On Wednesday the Bus Minister, Andrew Jones MP, showed his support for #CTBW by visiting Brixton bus depot and trying his hand at driving one of the new London Routemaster buses. We had a myriad of other MPs waving their green #CTBW hands on social media throughout the week and encouraging their constituents to choose the bus. We even had the new Shadow Secretary of State for Transport Andy McDonald MP showing his support and Michael Dugher MP, a former Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, wrote a piece for his local paper about #CTBW and the importance of the bus to Barnsley. 

Of course none of #CTBW would be possible without the support and enthusiasm of our brilliant industry partners and we had strong backing from bus companies, local authorities and transport authorities all across the country. Many ran competitions and freebies with Arriva organising local offers, Stagecoach Bus offering Amazon vouchers and other goodies, and the Go-Ahead group organising special events and ticket giveaways to promote #CTBW in collaboration with local radio stations, local councils and shopping centres. First Group Manchester, York and South Yorks spent the week reminding their passengers about the importance of catching the bus by tweeting daily fun facts and stats about bus safety. National Express West Midlands celebrated on the High Street in Birmingham. McGill’s buses, Scotland’s largest independent bus operator, offered a chance to win a week’s free travel and Trentbarton ran a “Green hair, no fare!” scheme with their drivers wearing green wigs. Find a driver with a green wig and customers would get a free ride!

In Liverpool, Merseytravel used #CTBW to highlight the effect of congestion on the UK economy and offered £500 worth of prizes at their Williamson Square event. Meanwhile across the West Midlands, Network West Midlands and Transport for the West Midlands ran a very successful #busselfie competition encouraging passengers and employees to take a snap of themselves on the bus.

Catch the Bus Week is of course only one week a year, but Greener Journeys continues to make the case for the bus all year round, come rain or shine. Our recent research showed the effect of congestion on bus speeds and bus usage further underling just how important Catch the Bus Week is. Catching the bus continues to be great for your health, boosts your local economy and is great for the environment.

So, thank you again for everyone’s support and, until next year, keep catching the bus!