Case Study
Wiltshire Wigglybus
Tools
Involved
- Demand Responsive Management
Site Description
The Wiltshire rural Demand Responsive WigglyBus service was originally set up in 1999 covering the area of Pewsey Vale. This service now includes 4 buses running 3 approximately hourly circular services, including a less frequent service to Pewsey and Davis. A new one-bus service has also been set-up in Calne with a further expansion planned to cover Mere.
Site Problems
Rural areas in Wiltshire tend to have small and very dispersed populations, which makes it very difficult to provide a viable, frequent bus service. With the complex road network and small number of customers wishing to travel, the subsidy per passenger trip on a conventional bus service is very high.
Scheme Description
The WigglyBus service combines a conventional hourly circular route bus service with a booking service and defined drop-off provision. The bus operates along a pre-defined route but 'wiggles' off to pickup passengers that have booked. All pick-up and drop-offs must be within the defined operating area.
A provision has been made for dedicated phones at supermarkets that passengers may use to book a trip. The calls made are routed through the 24-hour, 7 days a week Message Link commercial call centre in Gloucester. The call-centre operator uses the automated MobiRouter Demand Responsive system (by Mobisoft UK Ltd) to book the trip. The call centre user locates a caller using the system's OS map provision and communicates with the bus drivers using a GSM communication link.
Scheme Objectives
The key aim of this service is to provide people with access to local facilities and opportunities, whilst keeping the subsidies per passenger trip to a minimum.
Improvements
It is anticipated that the system will:
- provide an attractive transport alternative for those who already own a car;
- support social inclusion caused in rural areas for those without a car;
- prevent unsustainable and environmentally damaging patterns of travel in rural areas, especially faster than average traffic growth; and
- support local economic and social activity and regeneration in the countryside.
Integrated Systems
Wigglybus utilises a shared call centre. This helps to both reduce the costs associated with the call centre and enables a 24/7 operation to be maintained.
Costs
The Wigglybus scheme was awarded a rural bus challenge grant of £463,000 from the Government in 1998. A further rural bus challenge grant award of £978,000 was awarded to the project in December 2003.
The overall subsidy per trip is £4.22 (considering capital and operating costs).
Capital costs: These are difficult to assess given the procurement approach, but are estimated at approximately £240,000 for three years at 2002 prices.
Revenue costs: £211,000 per year (in 2001) (average operating subsidy of £3.50 per trip) with the cost of operating the control centre being approximately £ 30,000 per year (included in the overall operating cost of £211,000).
Benefits
Benefits are shown in the table below.
Actual benefits reported |
||
| Impact Assessment | Environment | No benefits expected or reported. |
| Accessibility | A survey in 2000 showed that over 30% of trips on Wigglybus were not previously made before the service began. | |
| Safety | No benefits expected or reported. | |
| Efficiency | 40,000 passengers per year were using the service in 2001. Passenger numbers now in excess of 5,000 a month. | |
| Integration | No benefits specifically reported. However, Wiltshire Wigglybus provides policy integration with: Health, Education and Work and Pensions policy by providing improved access to jobs, education and healthcare, tackling social inclusion. | |
| Technical Performance | Significant problems were encountered with routing software and communications systems. | |
| User Acceptance | No information reported. | |
Wigglybus benefits table
(source: The Wigglybus End of term review, September 2002)
(source: Wiltshire Wigglybus report on DfT website, 2004 - http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_localtrans/documents/page/dft_localtrans_023969.hcsp)
No attempt has been made to validate the results reported. Users of the guidance are encouraged to assess the robustness of the results presented and the likely transferability of the case study to their own local environment.
More Information
“Wigglybus” has recently changed name to “Connect2Wiltshire”. Further information can be found on:
