The new on-demand bus service has launched in Rushcliffe allowing people to order transport to key destinations like East Midlands Airport.
Nottinghamshire County Council has rolled out the service in Rushcliffe West after piloting the scheme in other parts of the county.
Passengers can order the bus through a dedicated mobile phone app for transport to locations including the airport, East Midlands Parkway railway station, Manor Farm Park and Clifton South Park and Ride.
Specific services will also run in the mornings and afternoons allowing commuters to access jobs at the airport and various business parks.
The system is part of a plan to reduce the number of empty buses regularly using the county’s roads while also ensuring all communities stay connected to routes.
It comes amidst a backdrop of national and local bus operators struggling and putting services at risk due to passenger numbers not returning to pre-Covid levels.
The council said the new service will offer residents “better transport links” and will “allow them to make journeys more frequently and to new destinations”.
It followed a pilot of on-demand services in Retford, Ollerton and Newark and during evenings in Mansfield.
The buses do not follow a fixed timetable and instead work on a flexible basis, allowing passengers to travel between bus stops and designated points on the route.
Councillor Neil Clarke MBE (Con), cabinet member for transport and environment, launched the service at the University of Nottingham’s Sutton Bonington campus on Tuesday (May 16).
The bus, holding a maximum of 16 people, took a 15-minute journey from the university to East Midlands Airport, which is covered by the Rushcliffe West zone.
Speaking at the airport, Cllr Clarke said: “I’m really excited about the expansion of our Nottsbus On Demand service.
“It’s already in operation elsewhere but this is a great new expansion into the Rushcliffe area.
“It’s also a hybrid system because we’ve got fixed routes in the morning and afternoon to take people to work and school, and then it’s available for people to take them where they want to within the zone.
“That includes people coming to work at the airport and people taking their luggage to meet the planes here.
“There are two ways of [accessing the bus], either through the app on their phone or using a dedicated phone line to contact the council and order a bus.
“I think this is the future of buses, especially in rural and difficult-to-reach areas. It means every community has a bus available to them and there’s always a bus somewhere.
“It makes it much more flexible and versatile so people can get where they want to when they want to.”
Other key locations include the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre, in Stanford on Soar, as well as various business and logistics depots near the airport.
Rushcliffe villages like East Leake, Gotham, Thrumpton, Sutton Bonington and Kegworth will be able to use the bus between 7am and midnight each day.
Adult fares begin at £2 for a single and £4 for a day ticket, with additional passengers for booked trips costing £1 for single journeys or £2 for a day trip.
Other fares include regular cover for 10 days or a month-long pass.
The new Rushcliffe on-demand service, which launched on Monday (May 15), replaced the 865 bus service after operator Trentbarton withdrew a section of its Skylink route.
Tom Morgan, managing director of bus operator Trentbarton, added: “By connecting with other services and modes of public transport, this can help people get where they want to go by bringing them to regular bus routes or railway stations.
“We look forward to seeing how much the new service is used and valued.”
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