Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
On-demand bus service launches for cut-off villages
Rural residents will have access to a new service which allows them to ‘order’ a bus on demand by phone or app.
After seeing regular bus routes axed, those living between Aylesham and Whitfield will be able to use the new service from this week. Stagecoach and Dover District Council (DDC) have been working with Aylesham Parish Council to introduce two Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) minibuses.
The scheme has been brought in to serve residents who currently have no regular buses to get to essential services in Whitfield.
The new 16-seater vehicles will also link passengers to other buses going from Whitfield into Dover and from Aylesham into Canterbury.
People will be able to call on the service when they need one and it will arrive at the stop they have requested. Passengers can book their journeys via an app or by calling a phone operator at the Stagecoach head office.
In the early stages of the new project, existing bus stops will be used, but as the service becomes more established, technology will create virtual bus stops based on passengers’ travel patterns.
This means there will be additional pick-up and drop-off locations across the service area, which includes Eythorne, Elvington, Nonington and Shepherdswell.
Both minibuses are fully accessible and travel concessions will be accepted on the service. A single flat fare will be £3.50. School bus passes are not eligible on the DRT service, although this may be reviewed in the future.
The buses will run from 7am to 7pm, Monday to Friday, and 9am-5pm on Saturdays. The service will support the growing community of Aylesham, which has seen more than 1,000 new homes built as part of the Garden Village development. Work on the final phase will begin this year, involving a proposed 290 more homes. Cllr Martin Bates, DDC’S cabinet member for transport, said: “It will provide significant benefits to these communities.” The new system is the first of its kind in the south east to be implemented by Stagecoach.
‘It will provide significant benefits to these communities to access services...’