Britons are today being encouraged to swap car journeys for their local bus services, as a range of competitions, offers and promotions launch across the country to mark Catch the Bus Week.

Hundreds of organisations are taking part across the country, engaging communities with creative and exciting promotional activity. From a poetry competition at schools in Wales about why children love the bus, to a challenge to all County Councillors in Somerset to take the bus during the week, there is a raft of activity planned, and hundreds of ways for the British public to get involved. All over the country, passengers can benefit from a range of offers, promotions and events which showcase the best of the bus.

Buses Minister Andrew Jones MP will also lend his support to the campaign, putting himself in a bus driver’s shoes for the first time on Wednesday during a bus driving lesson in Brixton.

Now in its 4th year, Catch the Bus Week – spearheaded by Greener Journeys – aims to raise awareness of the vast economic, environmental and social benefits of taking the bus.

Sometimes overlooked in discussions of crucial national infrastructure, bus networks play a crucial role in driving the economy and connecting local communities. Buses carry more commuters than all other forms of public transport combined, helping to generate £64bn per year for local economies, while helping vulnerable people across the country stay connected with their communities.

Buses keep families close, link young people to jobs and training, and protect society’s most vulnerable from isolation. This week, bus operators, local councils, members of parliament, schools and passenger transport groups are holding events and promotions to celebrate that contribution, and encourage drivers to try a more sustainable choice of transport.

Claire Haigh, Chief Executive of Greener Journeys, will be travelling across the country this week to support Catch the Bus Week, starting in Birmingham on Monday, Liverpool on Tuesday and London on Wednesday. She commented: “Once again, we are delighted to see the entire bus sector coming together to promote the benefits of the bus. From dance troupes on buses, to radio show broadcasts live from the top deck, we are always bowled over by the sheer breadth and scale of the creativity on show during the week, and 2016 is proving to be no different. “There isn’t a single area of our daily lives that doesn’t in some way depend on the bus so it is fantastic to see its worth celebrated in such extravagant fashion.”

Source: Greener Journeys