12:10pm Wednesday 26th August 2009
By Peter Law
ALL bus journeys within Southampton will be free this weekend.
As the city prepares for one of its busiest weekends for years the city council has spent £38,000 so that all bus journeys are free.
With nine cruise ships – and 47,500 passengers – passing through Southampton within 48 hours, council bosses want residents to leave their cars at home.
More than 12,000 extra vehicles are expected to cause the heaviest congestion seen in the city since the opening of Ikea earlier this year.
The council has teamed up with Bluestar, First and Unilink and Black Velvet Travel to provide free bus travel until 6pm on Saturday and Sunday.
The journeys will be free for anyone as long as they start and finish within the city’s boundaries.
However, the bus firms – whose concessionary fares are subsidised by the council – are not spending any of their own money.
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