Post by dwarfer1979 on Jul 3, 2023 8:16:24 GMT 1
DRT can work as a concept though that comes with various caveats and conditionals, Call Connect in Lincolnshire has been running successfully for something like 20 years - it has never been commercial but it was never expected to be. DRT works well in rural areas where it will never be possible to provide such a level of service that would be attractive to anyone but those with absolutely no choice. I'm not sure DRT will ever really work in urban environments where taxi alternatives are more attractive (people like Uber effectively offer the same concept without the hassle of using larger minibuses and the risk of journey disruption by picking others up) which just doesn't occur in the rural areas.
That said even in rural areas to make it slightly viable you need volume to spread the back office costs & phone bookings as well as the more technological methods, Call-Connect was quickly rolled out across the county and even contracted to neighbouring authorities (Northants had a similar network that worked OK right up to the point the county council went bust and withdrew all supported bus services of any type) which helps with that cost per trip. They have even rolled Call Connect out to cover semi-fixed timetable routes, replacing conventional tendered services, where journeys run a fixed times but will then divert via villages along the corridor if booked. North Yorks never got the volume to spread the costs before giving up.
DRT is a specialist product to complement a core fixed timetable network with support & funding to achieve specific objectives particularly in deeply rural areas, it is not a panacea to turn around bus services, suddenly make supported services commercial or just replace a base tendered bus network at lower cost in a small area.
That said even in rural areas to make it slightly viable you need volume to spread the back office costs & phone bookings as well as the more technological methods, Call-Connect was quickly rolled out across the county and even contracted to neighbouring authorities (Northants had a similar network that worked OK right up to the point the county council went bust and withdrew all supported bus services of any type) which helps with that cost per trip. They have even rolled Call Connect out to cover semi-fixed timetable routes, replacing conventional tendered services, where journeys run a fixed times but will then divert via villages along the corridor if booked. North Yorks never got the volume to spread the costs before giving up.
DRT is a specialist product to complement a core fixed timetable network with support & funding to achieve specific objectives particularly in deeply rural areas, it is not a panacea to turn around bus services, suddenly make supported services commercial or just replace a base tendered bus network at lower cost in a small area.
