Thousands of families and individuals are stiffled in their rural villages by insufficient public transport. In this modern age, we should take advantage of technology to solve the issue of rural mobility and that is why I am delighted that after a successful trial "rural uber" is being rolled out in several parts of the country in partnership local authorities.
This comes after the announcement by the Conservative government of the Rural Mobility Fund, worth £19.4 million, with awards for 17 projects. The second wave of funding, under the Bus Service Improvement Grant, has just been awarded, with more than £10 million for several parts of the country including Somerset. The National Bus Strategy which kick-started this proposal recommended a nimbler approach, and announced support for smaller “demand responsive” vehicles to supplement larger buses on fixed routes.
Residents will book their journey via and app, the trade-off between convenience and price is performed by an algorithm. The first passenger to book through the app is given a guaranteed departure and arrival time. Other passengers are accepted if they can be accommodated without delaying the first ones. Eighty per cent of the journeys involve picking up at least one other group on the way, 50 per cent involve three or more bookings and 25 per cent four or more.
If you want to have a scheme in your Somerset village, email me and I will contact your local councillor [email protected]
