Slide: ride-to-work service in Bristol uses minibuses you can hail with an app

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Bristol Post:

New ride-to-work service in Bristol uses minibuses you can hail with an app


The Slide minibuses offer a new way to get to work

These new minibuses will be darting around the Bristol area from today offering a new way of getting backwards and forwards to work without using buses or taxis.

Customers must use an app to book a ride to take them to their destination during peak commuting times.

The Slide buses go where the demand is - people can book a ride in advance or just minutes before travelling without any location or timetable constraints.

Pickup and drop off points are within a five-minute walk of customers' homes and places of work.

The buses operate between 7.30am-9.30am and 4pm-7pm, Monday to Friday.

Fares are fixed up front and not based on the number of passengers in the vehicle at the time of travelling.

The app technology offers a convenient pickup point and calculates the optimal route to the passenger's place of work based on others requesting a similar journey.


Use an app to summon the Slide minibuses to get you backwards and forwards to work

The Slide Bristol ride-to-work scheme is a commercially-run service and the first of its kind to be set up in Britain.

The operators claim the cost of a ride is cheaper than a taxi and not much more than using a bus.

They give as an example a seven-mile ride from Filton to the Cabot Circus in the city centre, which would cost £5.

The company chose Bristol for the new service because they city is considered one of the worst for traffic congestion.

Chief executive Tim Jackson said: "We already operate some of the United Kingdom's best known urban transport in London and Manchester. Knowing that Bristol was one of the most congested cities in the United Kingdom, we wanted to develop an alternative bespoke solution."

The transport scheme was launched in Bristol today and backed by Bristol city council's transport leader Mark Bradshaw who said: "Our city faces considerable challenges with congestion due to a high proportion of cars moving through the limited space available in our narrow, complex streets. We must create viable, greener alternatives for commuters to try out which is why I'm pleased to see RATP Dev launch Slide today in Bristol."

The minibuses are run by a subsidiary of a multinational transport company called the RATP Group which runs 14 metro lines on the Paris underground as well as the tram system in Manchester. One of its services is the Padam system in Paris which was introduced two years ago and where mobile apps were devised that could optimise vehicle routes in real time according to demand.

For more information about 'Slide Bristol', go to the website, www.slidebristol.com

[ellendune]

Nationalised industries should know that they are not supposed to be innovative or entrepreneurial or Whitehall will invent some rule to stop them.  This sort of new idea should only be the province of private sector companies.  If you are not careful there might be a reasonable argument for nationalising the trains.

Except of course that our politicians are so bad that it has to be the French government that does it not ours.

 

[stuving]

The original "Padam Daily" (sic) service started in (posher parts of) Paris in April. The company was a software start-up two years ago, so the clever things they are proud of are the scheduling software and the simulations used to develop it. However, they do run the service, where the drivers all have to Uberishly provide their own vehicles, though they do have guaranteed hours in their contracts.

The rationale for the service is to pitch it, in terms of both cost and performance, between buses and taxis (classic or Uber). In Paris they need to contend with subsidised buses which offer (they admit) a reasonably good service. However, they reckon to get enough people going much the same way to fill a 7-seater, while being demanding enough to pay a lot more than for a bus.

[ellendune]

In Paris they need to contend with subsidised buses which offer (they admit) a reasonably good service.

Of course they admit it is a reasonably good service - they run it! You don't expect them to say its awful do you? That is what RATP do as their core business - they run the busses, metro and RER in Paris!

[stuving]

In Paris they need to contend with subsidised buses which offer (they admit) a reasonably good service.

Of course they admit it is a reasonably good service - they run it! You don't expect them to say its awful do you? That is what RATP do as their core business - they run the busses, metro and RER in Paris!

No, that was Padam - nothing to do with RATP in Paris. I don't know what part Padam play in Bristol - other than providing the software - it may be run by RATP Dev. I'm also not sure how much RATP Dev and RATP take any notice of each other's business objectives.

[Bmblbzzz]

Has anybody here used Slide? How did you find the service? What did you use it for (getting to work, shopping, etc)? Would you use it again or are you a regular user? If you haven't used it, would you? What would encourage you to? Do you think it's a idea that's overall beneficial for Bristol's (and other cities') transport mix?
http://www.passengertransport.co.uk/2016/11/taking-a-ride-on-slide-a-new-option/
http://www.slidebristol.com

Just curious! Saw an advert today (on a bus shelter) which reminded me of their existence so wondered if anyone had any experience.

Thanks!

[LiskeardRich]

So it’s Uber for buses?

[Bmblbzzz]

Sort of, I think. At least, it's got app booking and it's aiming to provide a more comfortable and convenient service than a conventional bus. But does it succeed? That's what I want to know.