Southern Vectis is marking World Car Free Day by offering half-price travel for customers new to using its mobile ticketing app during the week of 18th-25th September inclusive.
The move is part of the operator’s commitment to helping more people use sustainable transport across the Isle of Wight, as the area begins to return to normal – post-pandemic.
World Car Free Day is an initiative aimed at easing congestion, as well as improving air quality by promoting mass transit, cycling, and walking to motorists as alternative methods of travel.
Andrew Wickham, Managing Director of Southern Vectis, said:
“At Southern Vectis, we welcome any initiative designed to reduce the harmful effects exhaust emissions have on the environment.
“Over recent years, we introduced brand new buses to operate our services across the island. Many of these sport the very latest Euro 6 engine – releasing fewer emissions than the average new diesel car.
“And those travelling with us can now take advantage of our new app – which allows them to personalise the app to either save their regular journeys, choose how their home screen opens, mark bus stops or routes as their favourites, track exactly where their bus is at any given time and, of course, buy their tickets instantly. When planning a new journey they can even see how much Co2 they are saving compared to driving a car.
“World Car Free Day ties in perfectly with what we are trying to achieve. Now that life is beginning to get back to normal, and people are returning to their offices, schools and colleges – in addition to the shops, bars and restaurants – buses can provide the perfect and affordable solution to reducing air pollution here.”
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Southern Vectis is offering 50% off an adult Rover ticket for anyone travelling between 18th and 25th September, bought via the operators’ mobile app, and customers can also take advantage of 20% off a weekly ticket bought in the same way on the app. They will need to use a discount code and full information can be found at islandbuses.info.
Why offer it to those only using an app, people do still use cash you know.
Not only that but many of us don’t have “smart” phones either.
I don’t think reducing the fares by 50% for one day is going to ‘help more people use sustainable transport across the Isle of Wight.’
Apart from tourists, I would guess that the main users of buses are pensioners and school kids. The former get free travel and the latter have no choice but to use them in many instances.
If they were really serious about this then they should consider halving the fares on every route every day. At the moment, any time I’ve used a bus, the word exorbitant springs to mind when I’m told the fare.
Main users of buses are young people who don’t have cars. The days of pensioners using buses to tootle down to the shops are long gone, as there’s not many local shops to tootle to, and many pensioners of today have more money than workers, so can more than afford their own run-around to pop to the supermarket.
Bus usage keeps going down, so they hike up the price, and it goes down again. Go figure.
And many pensioners today are also struggling to pay their bills. They are not all full of dosh as you seem to think.
The old school pensioners are skint, but the baby boomers ain’t !!!!
The only bus company in the the United Kingdom, that DOES NOT offer return tickets. Says it all really. Greed, just like Giddings, Wightlink, Red Funnel and of course our lovely Council.
Even with that reduction it’s still a lower price to ride the bus on the mainland!
It’s cheaper to get a taxi than pay for 4 fares on Southern Vectis.
Andrew Wickham is full of it. Vectis have transferred out enviro vehicles only to bring back older vehicles that are less environmentally friendly. Next stop for Mr Wickham is to become an MP, he has all the qualities required
How bizarre! Only yesterday there was a report that they were cancelling 60 buses because of the lack of staff, how are they going to provide this service?
If the bus was free every day of the year it would make no difference, nothing would entice anybody who can avoid it onto a mobile germ factory to share the behaviour of other people and todays self entitled kids. car free day, I think not.
what about those of us that have the key card with preloaded trips – how about ..use one trip over two days, so that we can get half price also
£20 for two people to get on one of their buses at Yarmouth and go to the Needles Battery! Seriously? An absolute rip-off.