MEDIA RELEASE

Passengers get on board and kick the carbon habit

For immediate release: Friday 7 June 2008

Passengers across the Bay of Plenty celebrated World Environment Day yesterday by taking advantage of free bus travel.

Buses on all local routes in Tauranga and Whakatane were free on Thursday 6 June as part of a bid to help residents kick the carbon habit and to urge them to give buses a go.

Buses on routes across Tauranga were busy on World Environment Day with passenger numbers up by as much as four times on some routes. Total passenger numbers for the day were estimated to be around double the normal number, or almost 8000 passengers.

Drivers reported a jovial atmosphere onboard the buses with lots of first time passengers.

Regional Land Transport Committee chairman Andrew von Dadelszen said the initiative supported Environment Bay of Plenty's drive to get more people on the buses more often.

"We wanted people to give buses a go and on World Environment Day they did exactly that with drivers saying they served a lot of first time users. It was also great to see regular users trying new routes," said Mr von Dadelszen.

The "take the bus on us" initiative was funded in Tauranga by Environment Bay of Plenty, Tauranga City Council and Bayline Buses.

In response to a query from a Te Puke resident, Environment Bay of Plenty also funded the Tauranga to Whakatane service via Te Puke and loyal passengers got a pleasant surprise when they boarded the bus to find it was free.

Meanwhile in the Eastern Bay the Ohope Beachrunner carried three times the usual number of passengers. The Whakatane initiative was funded by Environment Bay of Plenty.

Tomorrow (Saturday) buses are free in Rotorua on all Cityride routes all day. This initiative is funded by Reesby Buses and Environment Bay of Plenty.

For more information on bus services in your local area call 0800 4 BAYBUS.

ENDS

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