BWCABUS The New Transportation Model for Rural Wales

Difficulty with transport is commonly experienced by those who live in rural areas and is often a significant factor in terms of social exclusion and poor levels of access. It has been suggested that Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) could address these problems by providing a more flexible public transport service. DRT are services that provide transport on demand, scheduled to pick up and drop off passenger in accordance with their needs. It is therefore a ‘hybrid’, falling somewhere between that of a conventional timetabled bus service and a taxi.

The first Bwcabus scheme became operational on 24th August 2009 located in North West Carmarthenshire and South Ceredigion, Wales. The introduction of Bwcabus has demonstarted that providing rural communities with an integrated rural public transport network can increase the frequency of public transport use, allow passengers to travel to locations not previously accessible by public transport, and encourage a reduction in car use.

Strategic bus corridors have been created between Carmarthen - Cardigan, and Carmarthen – Lampeter – Aberystwyth. Included in the specification of these services is the provision of a quality of service that would be attractive to car users. The DRT service is integrated with these strategic corridors, feeding passengers into these routes at a number of designated hubs. Innovative technologies have been incorporated into the system design to maximise the efficiency of the DRT services and ensure connections with buses on the strategic corridors. The Call centre service is provided through Traveline Cymru the national passenger transport information service for Wales. The use of Traveline Cymru enables passengers to plan journeys in a more holistic way and assist with connectivity within and beyond the region.

The presentation will comprehensively review and analyse the steps taken to move Bwcabus from a concept to delivery, the key benefits, and crital success factors.