Friday 13th might be unlucky for some, but for Network Rail employee, Fatima Baig it was a great start to the day as she stepped onto the My Bus city centre service to a fanfare celebration marking the 25,000th journey taken on the free employee bus.
Joined by the Mayor of Milton Keynes, Mark Lancaster MP and Melanie Beck, chief executive of MyMiltonKeynes, the local Business Improvement District that launched My Bus last December, Fatima was shocked at the unusually special welcome she received on this morning’s service.
“I am a frequent flier of the My Bus service and it is a fantastic scheme! I love the MyMiltonKeynes app which shows me exactly where both the buses are with not more than a few minutes’ wait at the bus stop. I take both the clockwise and counter-clockwise routes, be it for travel between home and work or to the shops at lunchtime. I have been very impressed with and made good use of the rewards on the app. All in all – a very happy customer!” says Fatima.
With 21 My Bus stops and 2 circular routes running concurrently from 8am to 6pm from Monday to Friday, there are already 6,500 employees using the free service, and as part of the innovative MyMiltonKeynes app it has recently been shortlisted for a National Transport Award.
Mayor of Milton Keynes, Councillor Sam Crooks explains: “Once again Milton Keynes has broken the mould, launching a unique bus service that perfectly matches the needs of businesses and employees.
Mark Lancaster MP added: “Whilst many other towns and cities have park and ride or similar schemes, the distinct design of the city meant that this sort of system would be expensive and complex to run in Milton Keynes. The circular hop on, hop off My Bus service enables employees to quickly and easily get to and from work and enables them to make the most of the fantastic shopping and leisure facilities during lunch breaks.
“I would like to congratulate MyMiltonKeynes for listening to the thousands of employees in the city and for providing a reliable service that has become a real asset in such a short space of time.”
