Many people in Brigg and district have already registered to use the Call Connect 'dial-a-ride' bus service, pictured above.
North Lincolnshire Council says more journeys continue to be made, and says changes are proposed. Some of them involve our area.
Brigg Blog has used already used Call Connect a number of times for journeys to or from Barnetby and Elsham. We intend to make greater use of the service in the coming months.
If you are interested in signing up, visit www.lincsinterconnect.com
For bookings and the helpine, call 0345 234 3344.
Investment in Public Transport set to improve services
FROM SARAH HOWE, NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE COUNCIL
The popular Call Connect bus service that provides a lifeline to many residents in rural areas is set to continue improving transport services across North Lincolnshire.
More than 3,000 people have already registered to use Call Connect – it provides a more flexible service for residents in areas that are currently poorly served by traditional bus services.
Usage continues to grow – in just one month (October 2017) 2,510 journeys were made.
A more flexible transport service is proposed that would:
• Use Call Connect where passenger numbers are low and the current service is infrequent
• Introduce fixed routes with Call Connect where there is sufficient demand
• Work to integrate school and college transport to secure best value for local taxpayers.
• Invest £1.8m a year in concessionary fare bus passes for older and disabled residents
As a result, there will be:
• An improved bus route between Kirmington and Scunthorpe. In addition to the current Service 4 between Brigg and Scunthorpe, there will be an additional express Service 4 (X4) every two hours between Kirmington/Humberside Airport and Scunthorpe. The X4 will be quicker and more direct to Scunthorpe Bus Station than the current Service 4. The X4 will replace the 366 (Goxhill to Scunthorpe via Brigg) that currently runs Saturdays.
• The Humber Flyer (Grimsby to Hull) will be enhanced to include the Airport and villages along the A1077. This would provide an improved service for residents living in Ulceby, Wootton, Thornton Curtis and Barrow, Hull or Grimsby.
• Improvements Service 450 with an improved service running between Barton and Brigg. Service 5 will continue, ensuring South Killingholme residents can access the route between Immingham and Grimsby.
• There will be an additional loop of Kirton to Service 94 (Kirton in Lindsey to Brigg), instead of travelling through Gainsthorpe. This will enhance the service formerly provided by the Kirton Klipper.
• The off-peak Service 55 between Appleby and Scunthorpe will now be provided by the 60 service and or the flexible Call Connect. In addition a new fixed Call Connect route will be introduced on Fridays from Appleby to Scunthorpe the service will include Dragonby.
• Call Connect will provide a service for passengers who currently use the Isle Shopper to travel into Epworth and back, with an additional fixed route to run Fridays.
Cllr Richard Hannigan, cabinet member for Safer, Greener and Cleaner Places at North Lincolnshire Council, said: “We are continuing to invest heavily in public transport in North Lincolnshire. Our concessionary fares scheme which provides bus passes to older and disabled residents is one of the best in the country and we can be proud that this is available to residents in our area. As customers demand for public transport changes, we need to consider ways we can improve transport further to better meet their needs. We have found that some routes are less popular than others and there is demand to expand services in other areas.
“We have addressed this and are planning to have a much more flexible bus service that works with the popular Call Connect and other main bus routes.
“We are also investing to expand the Call Connect bus service. These changes will greatly improve the offer to residents and create a more flexible approach to transport. We should remember that Call Connect provides a service that operates between 7am and 7pm Monday to Friday and between 8am and 6pm on Saturday. ”
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| A Call Connect bus at Barnetby station, which later took passengers to Brigg. |
" We are continuing to invest heavily in public transport " this is obviously a blatant lie as nothing has headed Brigg station or line way.
ReplyDeleteOf course this is no more than a wish list, not an indication of what will ultimately happen and is short of detail on routes, timings and the like so it is of no use to current bus users who may face changes to their transport arrangements. Additionally, North East Lincolnshire may not see eye-to-eye with their neighbours over changes to services operating between the two counties and rightly could object so bringing about further changes - or stop them altogether! So the whole press release and report from which the P.R. spin is extracted lead to more questions than answers. As to investment, how can spending on pensioner's passes be described as such? It is not capital spending but current and certainly has no discernable pay off in terms of financial return; it is assisted travel, a subsidy if you like, to which I have no objection at all, I just find it inexplicable that for dogmatic reasons a certain group of politicos refuse to use the correct word.
ReplyDeleteReading the N.L.C. report, if a few pages of little detail could be considered as such, the words "Aim to increase the the number of commercial routes operating across North Lincolnshire" are used; in other words the dogmatically driven myth of there being a self-supporting bus network just waiting to magically take off in a rural area is still being pursued by our leaders. I suppose that if they can pull it off there might be a mention in the New Year's Honours list for one of our "B List" local politicians though.