Success for free-of-charge bus service in Milton Keynes

The My Bus system is designed for anybody who works in or around the city centre.

There are 21 My Bus stops and two circular routes running from 8am to 6pm from Monday to Friday.

Some 6,500 employees use the free service, and as part of the innovative MyMiltonKeynes app it has recently been shortlisted for a National Transport Award.

The 25,000th passenger was Network Rail employee, Fatima Baig, who was greeted with a fanfare when she stepped on the bus on Friday morning.

Fatima said: “I am a frequent flier of the My Bus service and it is a fantastic scheme! I love the MyMiltonKeynes app which shows me exactly where both the buses are with not more than a few minutes’ wait at the bus stop. I take both the clockwise and counter-clockwise routes, be it for travel between home and work or to the shops at lunchtime. I have been very impressed with and made good use of the rewards on the app. All in all – a very happy custome."

She was welcomed by the Mayor of Milton Keynes Sam Crooks, Mark Lancaster MP and Melanie Beck, chief executive of MyMiltonKeynes, the local Business Improvement District that launched My Bus last December.

Councillor Crooks said: “Once again Milton Keynes has broken the mould, launching a unique bus service that perfectly matches the needs of businesses and employees."

Mark Lancaster said: “Whilst many other towns and cities have park and ride or similar schemes, the distinct design of the city meant that this sort of system would be expensive and complex to run in Milton Keynes. The circular hop on, hop off My Bus service enables employees to quickly and easily get to and from work and enables them to make the most of the fantastic shopping and leisure facilities during lunch breaks.

He added: “I would like to congratulate MyMiltonKeynes for listening to the thousands of employees in the city and for providing a reliable service that has become a real asset in such a short space of time."