CELEBRATIONS were in order as National Express West Midlands welcomed its 100,000th customer onboard its 97A bus service
Lea Tariq was handed a gift by Alex Johnson, transport analyst at Birmingham Airport, to mark the milestone.
This came just nine months after the bus operator extended the 97A route past Chelmsley Wood to Birmingham Aiport in July.
The service provides journeys throughout the day and night, seven days a week, connecting passengers between Birmingham city centre, Birmingham Airport and the National Exhibition Centre.
Since it was launched last summer, the extended 97A bus service has seen on average nearly 3,000 passenger journeys each week and has now hit 100,000 customer journeys.
Nikki Bains, head of planning, transport and Strategy at Birmingham Airport said: “We are delighted to be marking this milestone with National Express West Midlands. Since the launch of the service last year, the extended 97A route has resulted in greater public transport connectivity around the clock, enabling our customers, colleagues and partners to travel sustainably to and from Birmingham Airport.
“Emphasising sustainable modes of public transport to the airport remains a priority for us as an organisation and forms part of our commitments set out within our Surface Access Strategy.”
As part of its Airport Surface Access Strategy and wider Sustainability Strategy, Birmingham Airport is working with public transport operators including National Express West Midlands to reduce its carbon emissions from passenger transport to and from the airport, while also reducing pressure on the surrounding road network from private car use.
Mat Hidson, area network manager for National Express West Midlands, said: “It’s a pleasure to be working alongside Birmingham Airport to improve sustainable passenger transport connections and we’re excited to be celebrating this brilliant milestone with 100,000 customer journeys since the launch last year.
“With Tap and Cap, it’s easier than ever to hop onboard our buses – there’s no need to worry about finding the right change as passengers can make as many bus journeys as they like and we’ll cap their fare automatically, so they never pay more than they need to.”
