Shared from
Councillor Mike Bell:
North Somerset Council is launching a new, on-demand bus service in April to help people use public transport in areas of the district without regular routes.
This a new concept to our area so bear in mind this is under development and the precise scope of this might change in the early days. But this is a genuine and exciting opportunity to improve access to bus services for many communities currently missing out or paying the price for service cuts.
The new services will go where they're needed and run without a set timetable, typically using smaller vehicles. The map shows in green the areas where the service will operate initially in North Somerset. The areas for the new on-demand service will include:
* Parts of Weston village, Worle and Worlebury
* Locking village
* Hutton village
* Banwell
* Winscombe
Initially, there will be 16 buses in North Somerset running from 7am until 7pm, Monday to Saturday. Passengers will be able to book their journeys by phone or through a mobile app. The buses will be available for short trips or to connect to the wider public transport network.
Pricing will be in line with fares for local buses and Diamond Travel concessionary passes will be accepted, along with the West of England multi-operator ticketing for seamless onward travel.
Passengers can book a journey on the phone or via an app and will receive instructions on how to catch the bus - usually from a nearby stop - and how long the waiting time will be. The system then cleverly optimises the best route for the driver to take for all passengers who have booked. You might need to make a change from one on-demand bus to another or via a scheduled service to make a long journey.
More details will be shared over the coming weeks ahead of the services launching in April.
Replacement for the large number of traditional supported fixed route services. As
new services, they can be supported from the funding provided for the Bus Service Improvement Plan in the area.
I wish it well; for people wanting to get from "A" to "B" from time to time, without a specific arrival time, it seems a good idea.
For people who travel to appointments, I am less sure that an untimetabled service ("how long the wait time will be") will work. If I want to go to a railway station to use an advanced ticket or catch an infrequent train, can I be sure of my connection?
Will people be happy with intermediate changes of vehicle or system, through ticketing or not?
Will people be happy being given different roadside pickup places on different days?
If I go to a destination, unsure of when I am coming home, how long will I typically have to wait when I call up a bus?
I'm sure that the folks who have put the system together have excellent answers to these questions; I look forward to reading re-assurance and hearing of it working in practise.
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