Almost 2.5 million people all over Britain travel to work by bus, and a million more use the bus as a vital back up. For many, the bus is a vital lifeline, an affordable and accessible form of transport and for all it is a great and easy way to travel.

 Catch the Bus Week is a unique and fun initiative to show people the benefits of taking the bus and a chance to profile bus services all over the country, which can hopefully lead to long term travel change. Britain has a valuable opportunity to harness the potential of the bus, to make the economy stronger, help the job market work better and to build a more inclusive society.

 Travelling by bus can help reduce stress and can be good for your health

 It is a third less stressful to commute by bus than car and taking the bus can help achieve half the government’s recommended 30 minutes of exercise per day

The bus is good for the economy and helps support local communities

 Bus users make 1.4 billion shopping trips and spend an estimated £27 billion on retail goods annually. Every year, those bus commuters create more than £64 billion worth of goods and services

Buses bring people together and are vital for an inclusive society 

48% of the lowest income group do not have access to a car. Young people are more dependent on bus services than any other group – over half of 16-19 year olds are regular bus users. Concessionary travel schemes allow older and disabled people to get around – in 2013, they delivered more than 1.2 billion trips to 12 million pass holders.

It’s greener to get about by bus

Congestion costs the UK economy at least £11 billion each year. If everyone switched just one car journey a month to bus that would be one billion fewer car journeys on our roads, and a saving of 2 million tonnes of CO2

For more information, and to find out how you can get involved visit Greener Journeys website.