Free BBQs and buses for World Car Free Day

14 September 2017

Celebrate World Car Free Day on Friday, 22 September with a free BBQ breakfast for bus passengers and free afternoon peak hour bus travel in Tauranga and Rotorua.

With road congestion a hot topic nationwide, World Car Free Day offers an opportunity to remind commuters of other transport alternatives such as walking, cycling and public transport.

Travel on Tauranga Bayhopper and Rotorua Cityride buses will be free for those boarding between 4:00pm and 6:00pm and passengers have a chance to win a spot prize from our mystery prize selector who will be riding buses across the region and handing out chocolates or a pair of noise cancelling headphones.

Staff from The Hits radio station including local broadcasting personalities Will Johnston and Paul Hickey will be at bus stops on Willow St, Tauranga and Arawa St, Rotorua between 7:30am and 9:30am on World Car Free Day, rewarding Bayhopper and Cityride passengers with freshly cooked bacon butties.

Public Transport Committee Chairman Lyall Thurston welcomes the opportunity for Bay of Plenty Regional Council to be involved in the annual initiative again in 2017.

“One full bus load of passengers means about 40 less cars on the road and World Car Free Day presents an ideal occasion to promote public transport use and remind the community that there are viable alternatives to cars," says Mr Thurston.

For those in the Eastern Bay of Plenty, the popular Route 122 Whakatane to Ohope via Awatapu and Whakatane Hospital service will be free for the day - rewarding regular passengers, including students, with a free trip and encouraging those who haven't used the service to give it a go.

Informal car free days took place throughout the 1990s and the first official, World Car Free Day was launched in 2000. Many big cities, like Bogota and Jakarta, close their central roads on this day and fill them with walking and cycling events and smaller car-free events take place around the world.

ends

© Scoop Media