Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Suffolk Community Transport - an experiment in rural transport

I was somewhat surprised to find that the Department of Transport have found £392,000 to do something that I, as a non-driving country dweller, can approve of.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm sure that the Department of Transport is packed with frightfully well-meaning people, who are none of the worse for thinking that the countryside is improved by putting dual carriageways through it. After all, someone has to suffer so that the denizens of our major conurbations can avoid prolonged exposure to the rural environment.

However, I digress. The money has been given to set up Suffolk Community Transport, an new county-wide umbrella group whose key objectives in the three-year strategy include adding to the range of community transport services available in Suffolk, sharing of resources where appropriate, and improving efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

This is the first such attempt in England, and I wish them well. However, they may wish to pick up on some research being done at Tokyo University on the question of 'On Demand Buses'.

By using quite simple technology, more efficient use of the vehicles can be achieved, whilst encouraging more impulsive and short notice travel, and I could book my rides using my BlackBerry, which would be very useful indeed, especially given my tendency to become distracted...

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