By Jamie Waller, Local Democracy Reporter
A councillor says residents in his area are still “desperately waiting” for promised on-demand bus services to be rolled out.
Nottinghamshire County Council announced in November it would expand the scheme in which passengers in remote villages are able to request a pick up.
Some of the routes are no longer commercially viable for traditional bus services due to low passenger numbers.
While one zone in Newark has started this week, the council says it is still finalising plans for where the others in parts of Ashfield, Broxtowe, Gedling, Newark and Rushcliffe will be, and will launch them over the next two years.
But Broxtowe Borough Councillor Will Mee (Lab) says residents in the Eastwood area want to see progress.
“People have been asking for this kind of service for a long time. Now they’ve been successful, they want to hear details,” he said.
“A lot of people in Eastwood, Kimberley, Nuthall and Greasley are older and are desperately waiting for this service.
“One resident I spoke to wants to stop driving because he previously had a stroke, but the bus service isn’t good enough as it is.
“It’s been six months, and people want to hear when the service will start.”
The Demand Responsive Travel Service is part of a £5m upgrade to improve bus transport across the county.
People should be able to travel anywhere between bus stops or other designated points with each service zone at a convenient time, using an app or phone call to book a seat.
Although people won’t be able to request pick-ups from their homes, buses will use existing stops and landmarks like village halls.
The new zones to launch this year will replace some scheduled services.
A Nottinghamshire County Council spokesperson said: “In November 2023, we announced that four new Nottsbus On Demand zones would be launched across Nottinghamshire over the next two years as part of our £5million investment to support, improve and deliver new bus services across Nottinghamshire.
“The first of these new zones launched on April 8 in south Newark, covering the villages between Bingham and Newark and allowing passengers to connect into Newark train stations, Newark hospital and Newark Showground as well as Bingham Marketplace.
“Further zones covering parts of Ashfield, Broxtowe, Gedling, Newark and Rushcliffe are still being developed and we look forward to telling residents in these areas more about the services when plans have been finalised.”
The county council also plans to take over the following routes which aren’t deemed to be commercially viable by their operators, at a cost of £1.4m:
- Stagecoach 6 & 7 – Worksop, Gateford, Shireoaks, Rhodesia, Worksop.
- Marshalls 90 – Newark, Radcliffe, Nottingham.
- Trentbarton 90 – Sutton, Kirkby, Selston, Ripley.
- Stagecoach 14/15 – Mansfield, Ollerton, Walesby.
- Nottingham City Transport 46,47 – Woodborough, Lambley, Mapperley, Nottingham.
- Stagecoach 1 (Mansfield Miller) – Mansfield Woodhouse, Mansfield.
- Trentbarton Rushcliffe Villager – Bingham, Newton, East Bridgford, Shelford, Gunthorpe, Radcliffe.
- Marshalls 37 – Retford, East Markham, Tuxford, Sutton on Trent, Muskham, Newark.
- Stagecoach 141- Bestwood, Hucknall, Mansfield and Ashfield.
