Stagecoach woos Ross public with free travel

BUS company Stagecoach has announced a promotional offer for residents in the Ferintosh area of the Black Isle.

Stagecoach has teamed up once again with Ferintosh Community Council to offer one week’s free travel to local residents during November.

Earlier in 2012, a similar offer was launched to thank residents for their patience during a period of timetable changes.

The company had recognised previous reliability problems and had taken a number of steps to improve reliability of the local bus routes, rewarding loyal customers in the area at the same time.

Routes 21 and 22 operate between Culbokie and Inverness, with route 21 also offering links to Dingwall as well as a demand responsive service across the Ferintosh area on certain days.

Steve Walker, Stagecoach in the Highlands managing director, said: "Our ongoing work to improve reliability in this area has been relatively successful; we have seen improvements in the time-keeping as well as passenger use of these routes.

"Our challenge is not over though, with the extensive roadworks in Inverness city centre, as well as the closure of Kessock Bridge coming soon, we’ll be working harder than ever to ensure we can provide as reliable a bus network as possible during these times.

"We hope residents in the Ferintosh area can see that we’re constantly working to provide the best possible service and I hope this voucher offer can encourage people to try the bus, particularly during the run up to the busy festive period."

Bruce Morrison, chairman of Ferintosh Community Council, said: "We welcome this incentive for residents to try out the buses for free. Punctualities used to be as low as 65 per cent and now, month in, month out, Stagecoach is delivering performances of over 95 per cent and even 100 per cent has been achieved.

"This is a terrific opportunity for residents to overcome outdated perceptions of unreliability and every extra journey by residents is a further incentive to Stagecoach to deliver a great service."

The voucher offer, for one week’s free travel using one of the Stagecoach megarider tickets will be delivered door to door within the Ferintosh region week commencing October 29.

More information on the Stagecoach bus routes in the area is available at www.stagecoachbus.com.