BUS passengers are being invited to jump on board for a bargain £1 in a bid to boost the evening economy.

Transdev bus operator has extended its £1 'anywhere to anywhere' evening deal throughout January, February and March.

The firm first launched the bargain flat fare for any single journey on any evening across its network of routes spanning much of Yorkshire in June.

It was part of a package of measures designed to encourage more people to get out and about, with Transdev saying the £1 offer attracted more customers back.

Numbers on board during 2021 reached 85 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, having plummeted to just five per cent at the peak of the first lockdown in March 2020.

As the region’s leisure and entertainment venues begin their New Year fightback from the impact of the Omicron variant, the fare will continue to be available for any journey on Transdev buses for the first three months of 2022.

Transdev commercial director Paul Turner said: “We originally created our £1 after 7pm fare deal to support Yorkshire’s evening economy and help everyone to enjoy travelling safely for less.

“We know from experience that our buses can play a vital part in Yorkshire’s economic revival beyond the pandemic.

"With that in mind, plus the fact that it’s clearly helping to attract more people to return to the bus, we’ve decided to extend our £1 anywhere to anywhere evening fare deal all the way to the end of March.

“All of our buses are clean, safe and ready to go as they always are, and with this extended low fare, we hope to play our part in helping Yorkshire’s night-time economy to recover quickly in the first three months of this year.”

The £1 flat fare is available until March 31 at any time after 7pm on any Transdev bus in Yorkshire and over the Pennines into Lancashire for any single journey, regardless of the distance travelled.

Longer Yorkshire journeys available with the £1 after 7pm fare deal include:

Leeds to and from York and Malton, with Coastliner

• Ripon or Harrogate to and from Leeds, on The 36 from The Harrogate Bus Company

• Leeds to and from Keighley, with Aireline by The Keighley Bus Company

• Keighley to and from Bradford, with the Shuttle

• Skipton to and from Keighley with Dalesway

Transdev's operating centres include York, Harrogate, Malton, Bradford, Keighley, Halifax and Huddersfield. The company also has Lancashire and Greater Manchester operations in Blackburn, Rochdale and Burnley.

Full details of all Transdev services are available online atwww.transdevbus.co.uk or by downloading the free Transdev Go mobile app from the Apple App Store or Google Play.