Bus travel on the 66 and 67 between Uni of York campuses is once again free for students

To the delight of basically everyone, free bus routes are officially back! In an email to all students this morning, YUSU confirmed that the bus system return to its usual operations and the 66 and 67 will be free for travel between East and West.

The extremely unpopular decision to charge students for travel between campuses was made back in September, without a clear reason being given by FirstBus. But after YUSU’s campaigning to change this, bus travel between campuses will once again be free of charge.

via YUSU

This change will be implemented, from Monday 5th February, and will use a Tap On, Tap Off system for students. Gone are the days of having to pay to get across campus! Buses will travel between York Sport Village and The Retreat if you’re on the 66, or York Sport Village and Green Dykes’ Lane for the 67.

The decision to charge for travel between campuses was made at the start of the academic year, with no consultation from FirstBus to YUSU about this beforehand, despite students being the most frequent users of the 66 and 67.

Understandably, this resulted in many students becoming incredibly frustrated, especially considering the already unreliable bus timetables and decision to increase the price of bus fares. Though the C1 and C2 were introduced for campus travel, many still found the system annoying and inaccessible.

YUSU also formally opposed the changes when they were announced, stating that FirstBus’ “commercial interests were considered over and above the student voice”.

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After many complaints from students, YUSU then launched the #FixFirst campaign, asking for a return to the status quo and for FirstBus to pay more attention to student concerns. After sending over 6,800 letters to FirstBus and the University of York about the #FixFirst campaign, thankfully they listened.

So there you go – buses will soon be free again for on-campus travel. That means getting to Courtyard from the other side of campus is free – yay!

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