Local Bus Operators Lead the Way to Free Vaccination Travel

 

Lancaster's local bus operators are leading the way to join an initiative by Lancashire County Council to provide free travel for anyone attending an appointment at an NHS Vaccination Centre, although it appears to have met with a lukewarm response from operators in some parts of the Council's area.

The Bus Users' Group understands that despite "a number of opportunities to confirm their participation" many operators have yet to do so.  The Bus Users' Group is, however, pleased to be able to confirm that both Stagecoach and Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire have agreed to join in. Other operators known to be participating are Blackpool Transport and Coastliner Buses, although the Council is requiring all of its tendered services to be included in the scheme, which will bring in a large number of other bus companies throughout those parts of Lancashire administered by the County Council.

Meanwhile in Furness, the Friends of the X112 have announced that they too will be providing free travel to vaccination centres on services between Coniston, Ulverston and Barrow-in-Furness.

Under the scheme, anyone with a confirmed appointment for a Covid jab can travel free of charge to and from their vaccination centre by showing proof of their appointment to the bus driver.

The initiative is expected to continue "until further notice".

City Centre Bus Stops Closed Next Week

 

Spring Garden Street will be closed and the bus stops in George Street out of use.

Roadworks on Spring Garden Street from Monday to Wednesday next week (6th to 8th December) mean that no buses will be able to serve the city centre stops at George Street.

Here are the alternative arrangements for the affected services:

SOUTHBOUND

1/1A (University)  4/4X (University) 40/41 (Preston) 42 (Blackpool) 100 (University).

These buses will run via Thurnham Street and King Street and WILL serve the Common Garden Street stops.

NORTHBOUND

1/1A (Heysham)  41 (Morecambe)  100 (Morecambe then 2X to Heysham) 

These buses will run direct via King Street and will call at Queen Square. They will NOT call at George Street or Common Garden Street.

OTHER SERVICES

2X (To Lancaster bus station) will operate via Thurnham Street and King Street and call at Queen Square instead of George Street.

7 (Vale) will operate to and from Lancaster bus station only.

9 (Farmdale Road) Buses towards the bus station will be unable to stop in George Street and will call at Queen Square instead.

11 (to Marsh) will operate via Thurnham Street and King Street and call at Queen Square instead of George Street.

18 (to Lancaster Bus Station) will operate via Thurnham Street and King Street and call at Queen Square instead of George Street.

The diversions are likely to cause delays to the services affected.

FREE CHRISTMAS SHOPPING BUSES START ON SUNDAY

 

Sunday, November 28th, sees the start of free buses in Lancaster designed to help people with their Christmas shopping in the city centre.  The normal Sunday bus services on the 7 (Vale); 10 (Ridge); 11 (Marsh) and 18 (East Lancaster) will be free of charge to everyone on every Sunday until 19th December.

Also, to help people take full advantage of late-night opening on THURSDAY nights, LATER buses will run from the City Centre, which will also be free to all passengers. These will run on 2nd, 9th, 16th and 23rd December

Timetables are available to view on this link

The Bus Users' Group has been concerned for some time that whilst Lancaster City Council encouraged people to shop in the city by removing parking charges in its car parks, it did nothing to help people who either do not have a car or who choose not to use one.  The free parking encouraged many more people to bring their car into town, which lead to traffic congestion that delayed the buses as well as adding to pollution and all the other problems associated with car use.

Our Group has therefore been working with the Lancaster Buisness Improvement District (BID) team to develop a way of encouraging people to come into to city over Christmas without bringing a car.  

Here is what the BID team have to say.

THURSDAY EVENINGS

One difficulty has been the early close-down of many bus services following the County Council's withdrawal of supported evening services a few years back. This has now been overcome by providing extra buses on local services after the end of the daytime service until just after the shops close at 9pm.  As an added bonus, these buses will be free of charge to all passengers. They will be operated by Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire and will follow the normal Stagecoach routes except that they will start and end at Common Garden Street in the city centre and will not serve the Bus Station.  Stagecoach will, however, continue to operate its existing evening service on service 7 to Vale and this will also be free of charge after 8pm.

SUNDAYS

Sunday shopping is also popular in the run up to Christmas and therefore the free travel offer has been extended to services 7 10 11 and 18 where the usual Stagecoach Sunday buses will operate but without collecting fares.

Organised by the Lancaster BID team, with help from the Bus Users' Group, the project has received funding from the Government's Welcome Back Fund, Lancaster City Council, Lancaster University's Community Winmd Turbine Fund and, in what must be one of last examples of this source of funding, the European Union's Regional Dvelopment Fund.

CHRISTMAS WEEK

The extra free buses will also run on Monday 20th, Tuesday 21st and Wednesday 22nd December to allow people to enjoy the run up to the festive season without bringing a car into the city centre.

If successful, it is hoped that the pilot project can be extended to other areas in future years.