Free travel on Newport buses in March announced

In March, passengers will be able to hop aboard Newport Bus services across the city, free of charge.

The news was announced by Welsh Government deputy minister Lee Waters at Newport Bus’s depot on Corporation Road, where he revealed that this was one of 58 recommendations in the Burns Report – which was commissioned to find alternatives to car travel in the South East corner of Wales, which covers Newport and the wider Gwent area.

Free bus travel was first trialled in the city over the Christmas period, and was believed to have proven successful, with passenger journeys up by 80 per cent.

Now, the new free bus period in Newport will serve as a testing ground for the rest of Wales, with the potential similar measures to be introduced nationwide.

Ultimately, the aim of the report is to find alternatives to private car journeys on the congested M4 motorway, in a bid to prevent the looming climate emergency.

And, given Newport’s position near to the major roadway, many of the proposals will have an impact on the city – such as the proposed removal of Old Green Roundabout.

How will the free bus scheme work in Newport?

The scheme is set to run between Tuesday, March 1, and Thursday, March 31, on Newport Bus services.

Any passengers travelling out of the city, or into Newport from other local authority areas will still need to purchase their ticket as normal.

Meanwhile, pass holders will be required to scan their passes as normal.

Newport Bus's fleet

What has been said about the scheme?

Speaking to the Argus, deputy minister for climate change, Lee Waters said: “Today we’re announcing a free bus scheme for travel in Newport during March. It was a huge success when it was tried before Christmas, and this is one of the measures we’re introducing off the back of the Burns report, looking at the alternative to the M4, to try and give Newport a modern public transport system.

“We’re seeing huge investment in brand new electric buses, we’re now going to try giving you free access to them, as well as a huge amount of work behind the scenes to bring in changes in the years to come, to make using public transport the easy thing to do in Newport.

“What we want for Newport is a functioning public transport system, which turns up and goes, that’s what we’re working towards. And that involves lots of different pieces of the jigsaw puzzle coming together. So for example, making a priority in the way the roads are laid out for buses over cars, looking at fares, and looking at timetables and information, a whole bunch of things that need to come together to make this work smoothly. So prices is part of it, we’re going to try this, we’re going to see what impact it has.

“Before Christmas I think passenger numbers were up by 80 per cent by having free travel, we’ll see if that is also true in March, and then we’ll look at what are the benefits of that, versus the costs of that.”

What about the wider Gwent area?

At this time, the scheme is being rolled out in Newport only.

But, the Burns report covers the entire Gwent region, and some of the recommendations apply to other parts of the historic borough.

This includes the ongoing consultation for improvements at Severn Tunnel Junction Railway Station.

Mr Waters said: “What we’re trialling in Newport, if it works, we want to apply for the whole of Wales. So Newport is setting the pace, it really is genuinely leading the way and we’re watching closely what’s happening here to see how it can apply elsewhere.

“So this is part of a much bigger shift for the whole of Wales to tackle the climate emergency but also to tackle congestion and dangerous air quality, to improve the transport system for everyone.

“Newport’s leading the way on it, others, we hope, will follow.”