Rutland County Council is to once again offer free bus travel throughout the month of December for journeys starting inside the county.
The initiative forms part of Rutland’s Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP), which has secured national funding to encourage greater use of public transport – helping local authorities to offer periods of free or heavily subsidised bus travel.
Journeys in December will be free for any single or return ticket on all routes when passengers board in Rutland after 9.00am, including Saturdays. For any journeys that leave the county, residents need a return ticket to ensure they are not charged for the return part of their journey.
It is hoped the offer of free travel will provide local businesses with a boost over the busy festive shopping period, as well as encouraging people to leave the car at home when make plans to see friends and family, attend events and shop.
Rutland County Council is also moving ahead with plans to introduce flexible, on-demand minibus travel to replace some conventional bus services in parts of the county. The plans were agreed by the council’s cabinet on 12 November and will be trialled from Spring 2025.
Like December’s free travel initiative, the changes to Rutland’s bus network are intended to promote greater access to public transport – using smaller, greener vehicles to help connect villages with main bus routes in the county, which then provide onward travel to larger destinations.
This is all part of Rutland County Council’s wider plans to encourage more people to travel by public transport, which would help to decrease traffic and reduce carbon emissions from private vehicles.
You can find full timetable and route information for all Rutland’s public buses on the Transport area of our website.
