Free bus service to take to road in Bristol from next monthA free bus service which was trialled in Bristol city centre last year will run regularly from next month.
The weekend service will run in a loop around the city centre every half-an-hour from June 11 after volunteers raised thousands of pounds to turn their ambitious plans into a reality.
Not-for-profit charitable organisation FreeBus has netted ^6,310 towards the project ^ securing a regular free bus service for at least six months.
Passengers will be able to hop on the 46-capacity single-decker bus without charge at Bristol Temple Meads, Cabot Circus, Broadmead and the Centre.
The service has been made permanent following a successful pilot weekend held in December last year, when dozens of passengers took advantage of free transport.
Jack Phillips, chairman of FreeBus, said the service would run between 10am and 6pm, starting at Bristol Temple Meads. He said: "We are absolutely delighted. The fact that this is being launched is an indication of how much support Bristol residents have shown for the project. We've been successful at fundraising and hopefully once it is up and running we will be able to raise quite a bit more and launch some other routes around Bristol."
He said the bus would initially be stopping at four stops, but a stop in Victoria Street could be added.
Gus Hoyt, spokesman for FreeBus, which has eight directors and 650 members, said: "There will be 15 volunteers helping us on the launch weekend, which is more than enough. There is a bank of about 60 of them on our books. The vehicle and the drivers will all be subcontracted."
Mr Hoyt, a city councillor representing Ashley ward, said the organisation had initially set itself a fundraising target of ^10,000 before it emerged that a much lower amount would be needed to get the project off the ground.
He said: "The ^10,000 was required for the route we had planned when we first started. The original route was going to go around Easton, St Paul's and Stoke's Croft. We realised that we needed an amount closer to ^3,000 to do the city centre service for the first six months. We also found out that the first bus company we had spoken to had given us a much higher quote."
Mr Hoyt said the service could be expanded to serve other parts of the city. He said: "If we can show that the project has worked and can fund itself, we will get funding to start serving some of the Bristol communities."
For more information, visit
www.freebus.org.uk.
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