Case Study

THE 49Link - Craven Arms, Shropshire

The SCHEME - Original Reasoning

Craven Arms is a rural market town that acts as a service hub for an area of South Shropshire, as such it draws from a wide catchment area. When the town carried out its ‘health check‘ a number of transport issues were raised. In particular, it was identified that there was minimal access to the town by Public Transport from the hinterland.

The South Shropshire Housing Association came forward as a partner interested in addressing transport issues. It asked TESS (Transport for Everyone in South Shropshire) - the organisation from which CBT has developed, to undertake a Transport Needs survey. The survey identified a need, particularly but not exclusively amongst older and disabled residents, to access shops and other facilities in the town on week-days. Our recommendation was the introduction of a new, innovative bus service.

The SCHEME - Its Operation

We established the 49 Link bus service in April 2002 and its usage has shown a steady year on year increase since then.

It began as a zone based service that was only partially demand responsive. It has now been developed into a ‘free roving‘; fully demand responsive service operating five days a week. Many of its users consider the service to be invaluable as without it they would not be able to access any of the local community facilities. It is also being used by tourists, which is curtailing car usage in an AONB.

From our experience such a service can be expensive to run and complicated to operate. CBT has worked to resolve these issues and in this case successfully acts as both manager and booking centre.

Formula for Success

• Involvement and support of Housing Associations and Parish Councils have encouraged local ownership of the scheme.
• Free bus passes are an incentive.
• The bus has come to represent a positive social asset. The attitude of the bus drivers and their positive relationship with passengers, is a major factor for the successful operation of the service.
• An on-going positive marketing strategy is essential. The bus must be easily recognised throughout the area - ours is currently bright yellow.
• A passenger friendly central booking service with a free-phone number is has been shown to be much appreciated by users.
• Passenger information and awareness of the service flexibility is an on-going sales promotion facility.
• Simplicity of information is crucial.

The increased usage and positive passenger response has shown the value of a planned demand responsive service in improving accessibility and providing integration with standard transport facilities.