Rutland County Council are again offering free return bus travel to two city shopping destinations in December, in the lead-up to Christmas.
The free Christmas Shopper Buses will collect passengers from areas such as Langham, Barleythorpe, Oakham, Gunthorpe, Preston and Uppingham before travelling to Nottingham and Peterborough next month.
The initiative is being funded by national grant money which has been made available to Rutland through the government’s Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) programme. This gives money to local councils to help encourage use of public transport, including periods of free or heavily subsidised bus travel.
The same funding is being used to offer passengers free travel for any bus journey starting in Rutland after 9am throughout the month of December.
Rutland’s two Christmas Shopper Buses will be operating on the following dates.
Saturday 7 December – Nottingham
Saturday 14 December – Peterborough
“These are one-off journeys intended to provide an accessible public transport option to popular shopping destinations in the run-up to Christmas – promoting greater bus usage among residents who travel predominantly or exclusively by car. It allows for people of all ages to perhaps explore somewhere new, as well as picking up gifts for friends and family without the hassle of driving and parking to shop at a busy time of year. We hope this initiative will prove popular and encourage people to consider swapping cars for buses again in the future, as we continue to look at ways to improve our public transport network in Rutland.”
Councillor Christine Wise, Portfolio Holder for Highways, Transport, and the Environment
In addition to the free bus travel offer in December, Rutland County Council in conjunction with the two Town Councils are providing free parking on Saturdays in December in the build up to Christmas. Free parking will also be available for Christmas Late Night Shopping in both Oakham and Uppingham.
More information on the Christmas incentives as well as the full timetables for the shopper buses can be found on the Council’s website.
