Record number of passengers using bus to get around North East Lincolnshire

Passenger numbers have increased by almost 5% in the last year, with many taking advantage of the discounted schemes and passes.

Operated by Stagecoach East Midlands, North East Lincolnshire’s bus network has undergone an array of changes in the last 12 months.

Last November, the £1 bus fare was introduced. This meant that you could travel anywhere in the borough after 6pm on weekdays and at all times on bank holidays and weekends for just £1.

Since that date, 435,561 tickets have been purchased. In addition, bus users seem to be getting younger and younger with youth travel having improved by a staggering 82% since 2019.

Of those, some may have taken advantage of the youth holiday and mega rider tickets that were on offer. Between September 2023 and July 2024, over 25,000 Youth MegaRiders were sold, allowing people aged 5-19 to travel anywhere in North East Lincolnshire for just £10 a week.

The Youth HolidayRider, which ran from February to September of this year, meant anyone under 19 years of age could enjoy unlimited bus travel for just £1.50 a day during the school holidays!

In that period, 46,818 HolidayRider tickets were sold, meaning a lot of the younger generation got to see what Grimsby, Cleethorpes and Immingham has to offer by bus.

In June this year, pre-9.30am Concessionary Travel was introduced, meaning anyone of certain disabilities or of pensionable age could travel around the borough for free at all times. Prior to this, free travel was only available to those people after 9.30am.

In just four weeks, there have been more than 20,000 journeys using the Concessionary Travel pass, which is roughly twice the size of the population of Immingham!

Finally, in July and early September, Stagecoach East Midlands introduced a raft of service changes which saw an increased frequency in the 3 and 4, including more morning and evening routes through Laceby.

As well, the new 11 route began  which was designed to help connectivity through Bradley. These improvements have seen a 15% rise in people using the 3 and the 4 service with regular passengers celebrating the fact they were now every 10 minutes. As well, the new 11 route began and is helping connectivity through Bradley.

Christine and Peter Hewson use the 3 and 4 services most days to get around the borough. Christine said: “The changes are great for us two. You can tell they’re more frequent now which means we can easily get anywhere.

“It’s certainly a good reason for us to continue using the buses and allows us to keep doing what we enjoy.”

Speaking about the increased passenger numbers, Portfolio Holder for Highways, Housing and Transport, Councillor Stewart Swinburn, said: “This is brilliant news.

“Not only have we seen passenger numbers go up on the whole, but they show that people are using the schemes and tickets that are out there to help save our residents money too.

“The Council understands that many people may be more wary about using public transport since the Covid-19 pandemic, but to be getting close to the same amount of passengers pre-pandemic is astounding.

“The recent changes and new initiatives are a real testament to what we’re trying to do and long may it continue.”

Councillor Henry Hudson, Portfolio Holder for Environment and Net Zero, added: “As a Council, we are aiming to become carbon neutral by 2030. By using public transport we are taking cars off the road and reducing our carbon footprint.

“These statistics send a real positive message. This, along with a host of other decarbonisation projects the Council are progressing on, all feed in to making sure we achieve our target.”