City's free Zipper bus service to be axed next year

A city's free bus service that has been taking people on short journeys since 2023 is to be axed next year, amid concerns over costs.

Hereford City Council has said its three green, electric Zipper buses, named Handsome Norman, Pilot and Green Horse, will stop running in 2026 when the contract expires.

Last month, the council said the buses were averaging almost 500 passenger journeys per day, describing the figures as "incredible" and proof of the increasing popularity of the service.

Mayor of Hereford Kevin Tillett said it had been a tough decision. "The bottom line is it is costing us a huge amount of money to run this free bus service," he stated.

He added an estimate given before the service started had proved "a bit unrealistic".

"We are only a parish council and we have a very, very modest budget," he said.

Passenger Alison Walker said she used the service "all the time" to pick up her granddaughter on Thursdays and to get to work on Saturdays and Sundays, describing the provision as "great".

But she complained: "Everything we have for free is taken away from us."

She said a lot of older people used the service and said charging passengers fares would be better than losing it. "I'd pay a pound to go on it," she said.

Brian Howarth, who uses the Zipper nearly every day for shopping, visiting town, and "just to get out", said: "If you want to do any shopping in Asda, it's a long walk from the bus station."

He said losing the Zippers "impacted everything", adding: "You'll just have to walk."

The mayor said each journey was currently costing £1.80 per passenger.

He said if journeys were paid for, people would not use the buses.

"We would have to be charging well in excess of £2 a journey to even make it slightly pay its way. We'd probably still end up having to subsidise it," he said.

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