Spreading some Christmas cheer in Cheltenham, travel from Arle Court Park and Ride is free until the New Year.
Gloucestershire County Council is encouraging Christmas shoppers to be more sustainable this festive season, with free travel from the popular Park and Ride site available until Monday 2 January 2023.
The Park and Ride service has recently been reintroduced, with Bennetts Coaches taking over the service from previous operator Stagecoach West - and the County Council hopes the free travel offer will encourage new users to try the service, as well as giving a 'thank you' to regular users for their patience during construction work at the £20 million transport hub.
While the new service has been free for the last two weeks as the operator struggled with a short-term ticketing issue, Gloucestershire County Council has decided to make the most of the situation and offer free travel throughout the festive season, in a bid to reduce traffic in and out of Cheltenham and boost the local economy.
Cabinet member with responsibility for buses, Councillor Philip Robinson, said: 'Gloucestershire’s bus users have had a challenging few months, which makes this good news all the more welcome. We want to say thank you to our loyal Park and Ride users as well as encourage others to try it out for the first time while they do their Christmas shopping.
'We hope that the free Park and Ride helps encourage people to travel more sustainably where possible and to shop locally this Christmas season. Merry Christmas from all of us here at Gloucestershire County Council.'
Standard fares for the Arle Court Park and Ride service will be reinstated from Tuesday 3 January 2023.
