RESIDENTS who have their birthdays in August can benefit from free travel for an entire month.

The website where you can apply for a month of free bus use is now live on the Birthday Bus website.

It is hoped that the initiative could encourage people to use local bus services more often, which could transform how many of us travel in the long-run.

You must input a digital photo and your date of birth to claim your bus pass.

All residents will be able to take advantage of this offer during their birthday month over the next year.

North Somerset council, Cllr Mike Bell, said: “We’re pleased to be a part of this innovative scheme to encourage travel by bus. Alongside improvements to our bus network and the new WESTlink service, this will be another reason for North Somerset residents to celebrate.

"If your birthday is coming up, please sign up today and enjoy free travel.”

West of England Metro mayor Dan Norris said: “I hope birthday buses encourage new people to hop on the bus and try it out - perhaps for a regular commute, to go to the shops, a restaurant, or to spend their weekends enjoying the amazing attractions and great beauty of our region.

"We really need more people using buses to cut congestion, pollution and noise - and meet our important and very ambitious 2030 net zero targets. So please sign up today for your birthday travel.”

Not only that, but this could hep mitigate the economic impact of congestion, which costs the West of England £300 million a year and is responsible for around 300 early deaths a year. 

The birthday bus scheme is part of joint investment plan by the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority and North Somerset Council.

This coincides with an increase in bus fare prices from First West of England Bus. In Weston-super-Mare, the price of an adult 2-Trip ticket will increase by 20p to £3.40, and there will also be changes to other fares, including the adult Day ticket increasing by 30p to £3.60.

Rob Pymm, commercial director for First West of England, said: "Like businesses generally, we continue to face significant pressure on our costs, which means we are having to increase our fares to enable continued investment in improving services for our customers."