More than 5000 people took advantage of free buses on Saturday to travel the Bayhopper network for free. Bay of Plenty Regional Council transport policy manager Garry Maloney says the response to the first day of the month's no fare Saturday promotion is outstanding, with many buses travelling full.

'We saw a 51 per cent increase in passenger numbers from the highest number achieved in the previous three Saturdays,” says Garry.

'It was great to see the bus stops on Durham Street and Tauranga CBD so busy. Many shoppers expressed to drivers how easy it was to get into town without the hassle of taking their car.”

The promotion continues until the end of November.

Meanwhile the regional council is announcing a passenger increase of 19 per cent over the same quarter last year.

In the last three months the service carried 375,722 passengers – 60,000 more than for the same three month period last year.

Garry attributes the reliability of the service for the continuing increase in passenger numbers.

Ninety two per cent of departures from the city centre are occurring on time, and while we're continually working to improve that figure, we're happy with the results we're seeing,” says Garry.

'Passengers who use Smartride cards are also benefitting from a 20 per cent discount every time they travel, and for those who don't already have one, Smartride cards are now free from buses and at the Tauranga iSite.”

Nine years ago, Bay of Plenty Regional Council's Tauranga Bayhopper buses were carrying 340,000 passengers a year.