Highland Council’s In-house bus service pilot is on the right track
It’s now three months since The Highland Council started its pilot project to provide in-house bus services to deliver passenger and school transport services and such has been the success, it is now looking at expanding the pilot to include more routes.
The Council is set to make savings of around £1.4 million a year by operating in-house bus services and an update was given at last week’s meeting of the Highland Council’s Redesign Board.
Chair of the Redesign Board, Convener Cllr Bill Lobban said: “This is one of four major redesign projects currently underway, and it is very encouraging to see that in just 3 months we have recruited a great team of drivers and the pilot routes are proving to deliver a reliable and cost-effective service to passenger and school pupils. This initial project clearly shows the direction of travel we should be taking in order to provide an efficient, cost-effective service."
Chair of the Economy and Infrastructure Committee, Councillor Ken Gowans said: “All of the eight pilot routes have been up and running since January and have proved to be a success. We have six double decker and seven single decker buses operating out of our new operational centre on Cromwell Road and arrangements are working well.
“As well as making considerable financial savings, the project is about providing improved and more inclusive services for communities. Now that the initial pilot routes are underway and doing well, it is time to upscale and look at expanding and exploring opportunities for additional work streams.”
He added: “I would like to thank our bus drivers and everyone else involved in the pilot for all their hard work and commitment to make it a success. I also want to remind everyone that national concessionary schemes for bus transport apply to all of our in-house services. This includes the Under 22 free bus travel scheme, allowing pupils who are non-entitled to school transport to use their free Under 22 concession cards on all services.”
The Council is currently exploring options to procure specialist transport management software to support the school transport routes and the in-house services being delivered.
The update presented to the Council’s Redesign Board also highlighted that the use of electric buses is being further explored and officers intend to submit a bid to the Transport Scotland’s Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund.
Members were also advised that the public response to the dedicated facebook page – Highland Council Buses - has been positive with real-time operational updates and key information promoted daily. In the first 6 weeks the page attracted more than 900 followers. A dedicated webpage has also been set up with details of the services operated alongside timetables. https://www.highland.gov.uk/info/1526/public_and_community_transport/111/public_transport/5