FreeCityBus or FreeTownBus is a family of

zero-fare Free public transport, often called fare-free public transit or zero-fare public transport, is public transport which is fully funded by means other than collecting fares from passengers. It may be funded by national, regional or local governme ...

bus services which are operated in the centres of several cities and towns in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

county of

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

. The services operate as ''FreeCityBus'' in the city of

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

and as ''FreeTownBus'' in the towns of

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

and

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder, West Yorkshire, River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, ...

. The service is run under contract to

West Yorkshire Metro Metro is the passenger information brand used by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority in England. It was formed on 1 April 1974 as the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (WYPTE), at the same time as the metropolitan county of West Yo ...

. FreeCityBus had also operated in Leeds between 2006 and 2011 before being replaced by

LeedsCityBus LeedsCityBus was a bus service which operated in the city centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The service started in 2011, as a replacement for the Leeds FreeCityBus service, which runs in other towns and cities in West Yorkshire. The se ...

in April 2011 then joining onto route 5 in 2016 and in Bradford before being replaced by Bradford City Bus in 2016. Since the first service began in 2006, over 11 million passengers have used the free bus services.

Services

Leeds

The Leeds service began on 30 January 2006 and was the first bus service in West Yorkshire to use this format and was operated by

First West Yorkshire First West Yorkshire operates both local and regional bus services in West Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of the FirstGroup, and is made up of three sub-division brands: First Bradford, First Halifax, Calder Valley & Huddersfield and Fir ...

. Metro renamed the service LeedsCityBus and introduced a flat 50-pence fare for each journey, with the service running a six-month trial period from 1 April 2011.

Huddersfield

This service began on 30 October 2006, after the success of the Leeds service earlier that year. In under six months the Huddersfield FreeTownBus had carried over 100,000 passengers. This service was originally introduced on the basis of a nine-month trial with two buses. The contract was later extended until 2011 depending on funding. A Boxing Day service was introduced in 2007, following funding from Metro, although this has since been dropped after one year. As of July 2021, the current operator of this service is

Team Pennine Team Pennine operates both local and regional bus services in West Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of Transdev Blazefield, which operates bus services across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire. History Sta ...

Route

Unlike the Leeds and Wakefield services, the service makes a complete circle without backtracking, and runs in an anti-clockwise direction. the Huddersfield FreeTownBus links the town's

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

with the

bus station A bus station, bus depot, or bus interchange is a structure where city buses or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. A bus station is larger than a bus stop, which is usually simply a place on the roadside, where buses can st ...

, the

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

and the shops and markets.

Wakefield

The Wakefield service was announced early 2007 to begin at the end of April, and began at the planned time, the first run being around 7:30am on Monday 23 April 2007. Four hundred and fifty passengers used the service on its first running day. The service runs on a fleet of three buses. Star Travel was the first operator of the service, although as of 2012,

Arriva Yorkshire Arriva Yorkshire is a major bus operator providing services primarily within and across West Yorkshire, although it also provides service in some parts of South Yorkshire, East Riding of Yorkshire and southern areas of North Yorkshire. It is a ...

now runs the service, transferring 3

Optare Solo The Switch Solo (formerly sold as the Optare Solo) is a low-floor minibus/midibus with one or two doors manufactured by Switch Mobility in the United Kingdom since 1998. The Solo name is a play on its low-floor status, the manufacturer marketin ...

vehicles from the previous operator and acquiring another one of these vehicles from First Leeds previously used on the Leeds City Bus Service. Although in 2018, Tetley's Coaches won the tender for the Service using 3 brand new Optare Solo SR vehicles.

Route

The service is the first bus to connect both railway stations, also the first to connect The Ridings, Market and main shopping area to the retail parks.

Bradford

Proposals for a service in Bradford were first drawn up in 2007 after the successes elsewhere in West Yorkshire but a decision on the scheme was put on hold until December 2007 and then February 2008 by

Bradford Council City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council is the Local government in England, local authority of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. Bradford has had an elected council since 1847, which has been reformed on several occasions. ...

. In June 2008, a start date was finally announced with the first bus running on 29 September 2008. Initially the scheme was run as a 6-month trial, but in April 2009 it was announced that the service would become permanent having attracted more than 4 times the expected number of passengers. Bradford Council and Metro are each providing 50% of the funding and have committed to the service until 2013. In November 2009, it was announced that the 1 millionth passenger had been carried on the Bradford service, and 1.5 million had been reached by June 2010. There were 3

buses which ran the service Monday to Saturday. Each bus was sponsored; one by the

University of Bradford The University of Bradford is a public research university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. A plate glass university, it received its royal charter in 1966, making it the 40th university to be created in Britain, but ...

, one by

Bradford College Bradford College is a further and higher education college in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, with approximately 25,000 students. The college offers a range of full and part-time courses from introductory level through to postgraduate le ...

and one by Grand Central; the latter was originally sponsored by Sovereign Health Care at launch. From launch, the service was run by First West Yorkshire; operations passed to Ladies Only Travel in April 2014, using the same three buses and timetable. Although as of October 2016, with the demise of Ladies Only Travel the service has since been dropped.

Route

The service ran every 10 minutes and connected Bradford's two railway stations, (

Bradford Interchange Bradford Interchange is a transport interchange in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, which consists of a railway station and bus station adjacent. The Interchange, which was designed in 1962, was hailed as a showpiece of European design and wa ...

and

Forster Square Forster Square was a prominent and famous landmark in central Bradford, until being "redeveloped", i.e. effectively demolished, in the (2006) Broadway development. Its name is remembered in Bradford Forster Square railway station, retail park ...

, with the main shopping area, the college and university and the

National Media Museum The National Science and Media Museum (formerly The National Museum of Photography, Film & Television, 1983–2006 and then the National Media Museum, 2006–2017), located in Bradford, West Yorkshire, is part of the national Science Museum ...

Dewsbury

The FreeTownBus started operating in Dewsbury on 12 December 2009. It is being funded by Metro,

Kirklees Council Kirklees Council, also known as Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council, is the local authority for the metropolitan borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. As a metropolitan borough council it provides the majority of local government ser ...

and

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...

supermarket, and used two buses, which were operated by Star Travel. Up until 2020, it was run by one vehicle operated by

Yorkshire Tiger Team Pennine operates both local and regional bus services in West Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of Transdev Blazefield, which operates bus services across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire. History St ...

. As of 2021, it is operated using one vehicle from Station Coaches

Route

The service runs every 10 minutes and calls at the railway station and major shopping areas.

References

External links

FreeCityBus homepage
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210132940/http://www.wymetro.com/BusTravel/FreeTownAndCityBuses/ , date=10 December 2008 Transport in West Yorkshire Bus routes in England Free public transport PTE bus operations