Published Thursday 9 February 2023 at 16:38
Great value bus fares are now available on most Lancashire bus services for evenings out and weekend travel until 2025.
For evening travel, it will cost just £1 for a single trip after 7pm, 7 days a week in Blackburn with Darwen. Residents can also get a new ‘Weekender’ ticket, buying any ticket on a Saturday and receiving the equivalent travel for free on Sundays – perfect for busy weekends out enjoying all the borough and county has to offer.
These fantastic discounts will be available until at least 2025 and form part of the local Bus Service Improvement Plan, created in partnership with local bus providers and Lancashire County Council, which has received Department for Transport (DfT) funding of £34.1m for a range of measures to make our buses better.
The offers are in addition to the DfT’s initiative of three months of single bus fares for no more than £2 for a single journey, available until 31 March 2023.
Cllr Quesir Mahmood, Executive Member for Growth for Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, said:
We are incredibly pleased our residents have access to a high-quality public transport service at a discounted price. Given the current economic challenges, it’s more important than ever we can ensure our residents are able to navigate throughout our borough, and wider Lancashire, in a way that is safe, affordable and accessible.
The reduced ticket prices are also a fantastic incentive for residents to reduce the number of car journeys they are making, working towards a greener, healthier borough for us all and fitting with the council’s Climate Emergency Action Plan.
Other measures in the Bus Services Improvement Plan to be delivered from 2022 to 2025 include bus priority routes to make journeys quicker and more reliable and a number of bus service enhancements.
County Councillor Rupert Swarbrick, cabinet member for highways and transport for Lancashire County Council said:
As well as providing some great cost savings for our residents at a time they need it most, we hope these new discounted tickets will encourage leisure travel at evenings and weekends, giving local businesses a welcome boost.
We want to make Lancashire services more frequent, reliable and affordable, with better information for passengers and a simpler system of fares which is easier to understand.
We are working with local bus operators and Blackburn with Darwen Council, to create a network of buses which more people use for regular journeys.
This new offer will run alongside the DfT’s £2 flat fares initiative, so that passengers can benefit from discounted tickets in the daytime and even further discounts for off peak travel at evenings and weekends.
Find out more about the discounted tickets and Lancashire’s Bus Service Improvement Plan at www.lancashire.gov.uk/publictransport