Free bus travel in Portsmouth on Thursday, June 18 as city council, Stagecoach and First Solent mark Clean Air Day

Bus travel will be free across Portsmouth tomorrow.

Clean Air Day is on Thursday, June 18 and to mark the occasion, Portsmouth City Council has joined bus operators First Solent and Stagecoach to ensure that passengers will not pay on that day in a bid to encourage more people to travel on public transport.

This will include all bus services when boarding within the Portsmouth city boundary, including the Pompey Link service.

Cllr Peter Candlish, Cabinet Member for Transport at Portsmouth City Council, said: “It’s fantastic to see more and more people choosing to travel by bus in Portsmouth.

"We’ve made many significant improvements to bus travel recently through our Portsmouth Bus Service Improvement Plan, including introducing smooth, new electric buses. Put together, these changes are making bus travel a more convenient and attractive option, helping to improve air quality while keeping the city moving better.

"I’d encourage everyone to take advantage of the free travel on 18 June and see how easy it is to make the bus part of your everyday journeys.”

Nationally, cars and vans are the biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and some types of air pollution in the UK.

Peter Matthews, First Bus South’s head of commercial, said: "We're encouraging everyone to take advantage of free bus travel on Clean Air Day and discover just how easy and convenient travelling by bus can be. Improved services, more frequent routes, accessible vehicles and the introduction of electric buses mean there's never been a better time to give the bus a try. Whether you're travelling to work, school or across the city, we hope residents will take this opportunity to experience the benefits for themselves."

Marc Reddy, managing director of Stagecoach South, said: "We're delighted to be working with Portsmouth City Council to support Clean Air Day by offering free bus travel across the city on 18 June. This initiative gives residents the perfect opportunity to experience the convenience, affordability and environmental benefits of travelling by bus.

Every journey made by bus instead of car helps reduce congestion and improve air quality, and we're proud to play our part in supporting a cleaner, healthier Portsmouth. With growing passenger numbers and continued investment in cleaner, more sustainable vehicles, we're seeing more people choose the bus for their everyday journeys. We encourage everyone to take advantage of the free travel offer and discover how easy it is to leave the car at home."

Clean Air Day is the UK's biggest air pollution campaign and encourages people to make simple changes to reduce the health effects caused by vehicle and other emissions. A full double decker bus can take up to 75 cars off the road, so if everyone switched one car journey a month to bus, there would be one billion fewer car journeys, and a saving of two million tonnes of CO2.

The city council says that bus travel in Portsmouth is growing, with use up 53 per cent in the past three years. There are now more than one million bus trips in the city every month, and over a quarter of the fleet is electric, with 62 electric buses in service. Portsmouth City Council is working towards a fully electric bus fleet by 2030, supported by plans to electrify local depots including Hoeford, Hilsea and Farlington by 2027.