SWANSEA: Free buses return for Easter holidays to help families save cash

The free travel initiative starts on Saturday, March 28, and will be available to everyone using buses within the city on selected dates.

The council says the offer is designed to help families make the most of what the city has to offer, from trips to the city centre to days out in Mumbles and Gower.

Swansea Council Leader, Rob Stewart, said the scheme aims to help residents at what can be an expensive time of year.

“Easter can be an expensive time for everyone but we’re committed to ensuring families in Swansea can save a bit of money on travel costs,” Cllr Stewart said.

He added that families could save up to £20 a time, and urged people to “leave the car at home and save their petrol money to spend on other things.”

Since the free bus scheme was first launched, the council says residents and visitors have enjoyed more than one million free journeys.

The council has also confirmed it has set aside £450,000 in this year’s budget to ensure the free bus offer can continue for the summer and Christmas school holidays as well.

Andrew Stevens, Cabinet Member for Environment and Infrastructure, said a key aim was to encourage more people to use public transport.

“We know lots of people travel by car and may not have been on a bus previously,” Cllr Stevens explained.

“This free bus offer is a great way of introducing more people to public transport and reduce the number of cars on our roads.”

He added that it was important to support public transport operators in Swansea and increase passenger numbers.

The free bus travel will be available on the following eight days:

• Saturday 28th March 2026
• Sunday 29th March 2026
• Friday 3rd April 2026 (Good Friday)
• Saturday 4th April 2026 (Easter Saturday)
• Sunday 5th April 2026 (Easter Sunday)
• Monday 6th April 2026 (Easter Monday)
• Saturday 11th April 2026
• Sunday 12th April 2026

"Unless a person has spent real time in the bowels of a courthouse, it’s hard to imagine how many of the matters clogging criminal courts across the country originate from a lack of transit."

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/opinion/free-bus-rides-mamdani.html?unlocked_article_code=1.MVA.JF_B.na34Lbc6jtZU&smid=url-share

Via https://lemmy.world/post/43164553

#PublicTransit #transportation #FreeBuses #FreeTransit

Iowa City made its buses free. traffic cleared, and so did the air

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/climate/iowa-city-free-buses.html

#HackerNews #IowaCity #FreeBuses #CleanAir #PublicTransport #Sustainability

#ZohranMamdani on this month's cover of #InTheseTimes! Here's one of the articles from the August/September issue...

Zohran Mamdani's Win Is the Beginning of the End of the Old Democratic Party

Mamdani’s NYC primary victory shows that the old tricks of the political establishment are dying out—and something new is being born.

by Hamilton Nolan, June 25, 2025

Excerpt: "What, exactly, is the scary socialism of Zohran Mamdani that all of the #billionaires are screaming about from their high towers? #FreeBuses. #LowerRents. #PublicChildcare. Higher minimum wage. #SocialWorkers for homeless people instead of cops. Better grocery stores. Ahh! No! Not… not… all of these common sense ideas that the vast majority of NYC residents would be happy for! Anything but that!

"There is a limit to the political effectiveness of #RichMen who have servants telling regular people that their lives cannot be better. We may have reached that limit. The threat of the rich is that they will flee the city. The flaw in their leverage is that almost nobody likes them anyhow.

"Zohran’s campaign was distinguished by its determination to treat voters as adults. When accused of ​'defunding the police,' Mamdani took the time to explain that he wants to create a department of mental health experts and social workers to take work off the NYPD’s plate. When accused of #antisemitism, he took the time to forthrightly distinguish that smear from valid criticism of the massacre in #Gaza. He was, often, more adult than the political press covering him, which is trained to treat dishonest attack lines as sporting challenges rather than as things to be dismissed. The youngest candidate in this race acted with the most maturity. The oldest, #AndrewCuomo, ran with the traditional playbook of treating voters like ignorant children — and failed.

"Old people with old ideas do not stay in power forever. Old lies and old tricks do not work forever. Time moves slowly — excruciatingly slowly, if you are always paying attention — but it does sweep away the old husks and bring new things, eventually. #Socialists want more people to have decent lives. Zohran Mamdani is proof that that message cannot be mischaracterized forever and ever. We will look back on this primary win as the start of something new. If America is going to have one lone opposition party to #fascism, that party does not have to suck. The establishment is too deeply rooted to move. So we will run them over."

https://inthesetimes.com/article/zohran-mamdani-nyc-mayor-cuomo-democratic-party

#USPol #MamdaniForMayor
#DemocraticSocialists
#DINOs #CuomoSucks #TaxTheRichFeedThePoor #DSA