On the buses

Passengers urged to hop on board for Catch The Bus Week.

People who don’t normally catch the bus are being encouraged to give it a try and win themselves a four week ticket to ride.

The #BusSelfie competition wants people to post their selfies taken on the bus via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. They will then be entered into a prize draw with the winner receiving a four week nBus Swift ticket.

The draw is part of Catch The Bus Week, a nationwide campaign promoting bus travel which is being backed by Centro, the region’s public transport delivery body.

Catch The Bus Week runs from June 29th to July 5th and is organised by bus and coach advocates Greener Journeys. It aims to cut carbon and boost economic growth by encouraging people to switch from private cars to using the bus and helping to reduce congestion on our streets.

During the week Centro staff wearing green T-shirts will be out and about at bus stations and travel information centres promoting the event and talking to passengers about how they can get the most out of the network.

In the West Midlands more than 278 million bus journeys are made every year on 1,800 buses using 11,000 bus stops. Cllr Kath Hartley, Centro lead member for Putting Passengers First, said: “Over the last five years Centro has secured more than £100 million of investment into our region’s bus network.

“The investment has already seen new buses hit the streets – including the region’s first diesel-hybrid models, on bus cleaners introduced on key services and upgrades in real time information. It really is the perfect time for people who don’t normally use the bus to get on board and see for themselves just how good the modern network is in the West Midlands.”

For more details or to sign up to Catch The Bus Week go to www.networkwestmidlands.com/ctbw/