Harrogate businesses bring back free buses

Transdev-owned The Harrogate Bus Company is to bring back its ‘Sunday Freeway’ free bus journeys from 6 December. Harrogate Business Improvement District (BID), a group of local firms aiming to provide extra incentives to attract more people to shop local, is sponsoring the electric bus service.

Harrogate BID has agreed to keep on supporting the free Harrogate Electrics services on three routes on Sundays into 2021. The business organisation sponsored the journeys for three months leading up to the festive season in 2019. Its sponsorship of free Sunday journeys in the run-up to Christmas 2019 helped the Harrogate Electrics buses generate a rise of up to 90% in the number of customers travelling, compared with the same period a year earlier.

The Harrogate Bus Company CEO, Alex Hornby, said: “We’re delighted that Harrogate BID are able to form a joint local partnership with us to support free travel on Sundays on our Harrogate Electrics buses for a second Christmas, and on into the New Year. It’s amazing news for our town – reducing emissions and congestion while making it easier to support our local economy and get our town’s traders back on their feet.

“Harrogate’s businesses have had an incredibly tough year, with two lockdowns and continued restrictions impacting everyone. It’s now up to us all to support them as they re-open for the crucial run-up to Christmas by taking advantage of free travel on Harrogate Electrics buses to shop local on Sundays in our town centre.”