York Celebrates Environment Weeks with free bus travel from BetterPoints

Residents of York are being invited to celebrate Environment Weeks by walking or taking the bus around town – and be in with the chance to win free bus travel.

If you haven’t already signed up to BetterPoints, there’s no better time to join thousands of York residents who are being rewarded for walking, cycling, taking the bus and doing their bit to improve York’s climate, as well as being a congestion buster.  If you sign up between 14 September and 12 October and pledge to leave your car at home, you can be in with a chance to win one of 250 smartcards, pre-loaded with five free days of bus travel, worth £20.20.

For residents who are already signed up, leaving your car at home could win you a £70 monthly pass valid on all operators. All you need to do is record a walk, cycle or bus journey of at least half a mile on the app to enter the weekly prize draws. Four All York monthly bus tickets will be won during Environment Weeks, with the draws taking place on 21 and 28 September plus 5 and 12 October.

Councillor Kate Ravilious, Executive Member for Transport at City of York Council, said “Downloading BetterPoints and seeing all the tips on how to switch to more sustainable journeys is a brilliant thing for residents to do, and even more so during York’s Environment Weeks. Free bus travel is a great incentive to try an alternative to your car even for just a few journeys a week”.

To join us on BetterPoints and start earning rewards for green and healthy travel, download the free app from The App Store or Google Play.

For more information about BetterPoints and the bus ticket promotion, visit: york.betterpoints.app/stories/yews24

The smartcards and All York monthly passes are being funded by York’s Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) which is supporting the city to grow our bus network.

York’s BetterPoints programme has seen a 47% increase in users in the last three months and since being set up in August 2021 residents have;

• o Reduced CO₂ output by 391,433 kgs
• o Burned 129,889,835 calories between them
• o Travelled 1,653,748 miles in a sustainable way
• o In a report from May, 28% of users reported travelling by bus more often, whilst 31% of those who reported not travelling by bus when they joined the app were now doing so at least once a week
• o And 32% reported walking more often.