Bus passengers across Kent and Medway will be able to travel completely free over the weekend of 24 and 25 June, thanks to a collaboration between Kent County Council and the bus companies, paid for with funding from the government.

This initiative has been coordinated to support the Kent Big Weekend, organised by Visit Kent, which is promoting more than 70 tourist attractions across the county with many offering free or reduced cost entry.

The Free Bus Weekend is funded by the Department for Transport through Kent’s Enhanced Bus Partnership Schemes.

Passengers can just turn up and travel for free on any bus within Kent and Medway up to 8pm on both days and it is hoped that as well as supporting the Kent Big Weekend, this initiative will encourage more people to use buses again following the pandemic, to discover new places, visit friends or family and to help reduce the number of cars on Kent’s roads.

KCC’s Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, David Brazier said: ‘We are very grateful to the government for providing us with the funding to support our Bus Service Improvement Plan."

“Reduced use of buses and increased operating costs means that there is a real challenge for operators to sustain their services. This is one of a number of new initiatives that we hope can improve our network and encourage greater bus use helping to make services sustainable in the future."

"Greater use of buses would also help with improving air quality through having fewer cars on the road and therefore less pollution."

Richard Holden, the Parliamentary under-Secretary at the Department for Transport, said: “People up and down the country deserve a modern, reliable, and affordable public transport system. That is why we have allocated £35 million to Kent County Council for it to invest in its bus services."

“We hope that Kent residents can enjoy the free bus weekend and continue to use local services.”

For more information about the Free Bus Weekend check out their website here.