FreeBee - Sheffield City Centre’s free bus service - carried its 100,000th passenger today (Thursday 13 March) .
The lucky passenger Linda Shaw from Sheffield, who was given a bouquet of flowers and a week's free travel to mark the occasion, said ‘it is a great service and is an honour to be the 100,000th passenger’.
FreeBee links the main shopping areas in the city centre, as well as the rail and bus stations in Sheffield. It was launched in October last year as part of South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive’s (SYPTE) strategy to encourage more people to use public transport.
FreeBee is used by local residents, commuters, students and visitors and is fast becoming a feature of the city.
David Young, Head of Transport Integration at SYPTE, said: “We are delighted just how popular FreeBee has become in such a short period of time and the great news is it is growing in popularity every week.
“If passenger numbers continue at this level throughout the year, FreeBee will easily exceed our target of a quarter of a million passengers in its first year.”
FreeBee runs around the city centre, Monday to Saturday every seven minutes - 0700 to 1900 on weekdays and from 0800 to 1900 on Saturdays.
It is funded by SYPTE and operated by TM Travel, who are both members of the Travel South Yorkshire Partnership. The buses are easily recognisable in Travel South Yorkshire blue and white livery with the bee logo.
Buses run to and from Sheffield Interchange via Flat Street, Castle Street (for the markets), Arundel Gate, Norfolk Street, Pinstone Street (for the Town Hall/Fargate), Furnival Gate, Charter Row, Moorfoot, Eyre Street, Furnival Street, Paternoster Row (for Sheffield Station) and back to the interchange.
SYPTE is keen to hear from people who use FreeBee to find out how they use the service and how it has benefited them. Please call Julia Price on 0114 221 1413 or email juliap@sypte.co.uk with your experiences.
For more information about the service visit travelsouthyorkshire.com or call Traveline on 01709 51 51 51.