Car free commuters rewarded with bacon

Jo McCormick and her daughters, Kerris, 4, and Morgan, 14, get their free bacon sandwich from The Hits radio host Paul Hickey. Photo/Supplied

It's not every day you get a free bacon butty just for catching a bus. But that's exactly what happened to some Rotorua commuters who left their car at home today.

To celebrate World Car Free Day the Bay of Plenty Regional Council put on a breakfast barbecue at the Arawa St bus stop between 7.30am and 9.30am.

The Hits radio host Paul Hickey had his tongs at the ready to support the initiative.

"We probably served up a couple of hundred sandwiches during the two hours," he said.

"It's always fun getting out, doing stuff like this with the community and helping promote a good event like this."

The team also gave away a few butties to people sleeping rough in the area.

Jo McCormick and her two daughters, Kerris, 4, and Morgan, 14, are regular bus users.

"I don't have a car so we walk or we catch the bus," she said.

Ms McCormick said she never had to worry about finding a carpark or paying for parking.

"It'd be nice to see more people catching it, if you get a card it's really affordable."

The bacon butties went down well with Kerris, who thought they were trying to give her a "bacon party".

"She couldn't wait to get to daycare and tell everybody she got bacon just for catching the bus," Ms McCormick said.

"The other kids at daycare think she's a bit of a legend.

"They just get to catch the bus on special occasions, but she gets to go on it every day."

World Car Free Day is held on September 22 each year and is recognised in more than 40 countries and 1000 cities.

Regional council public transport committee chairman Lyall Thurston welcomed the opportunity to be involved in the annual initiative.

"One full busload of passengers means about 40 less cars on the road and World Car Free Day presents an ideal occasion to promote public transport use and remind the community that there are viable alternatives to cars."

World Car Free Day!!

Posted by The Hits on Thursday, 21 September 2017