| Re: WESTlink Demand Responsive Transport services Posted by grahame at 21:16, 20th October 2025 |     |
I was looking back through old posts here. I recall that at the time Westlink was set up, to replace quite a number of occasional scheduled routes, we wondered how the new system could be financed once the initial period was over. It was a convenient way to get central government money into local services which came with a requirement that it could not be spent on supporting something current. Great while it lasted, but never "permanent" and changes (be they service or funding) inevitable unless it did miraculously well.
There are cases for demand responsive transport ... but to me it doesn't look like they're WestLink as it's currently set up.
| Re: WESTlink Demand Responsive Transport services Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 15:45, 20th October 2025 | |
From the BBC:
Doubt over future of the West of England's dial-a-ride Westlink minibus service
Government funding for the dial-a-ride Westlink minibus service is set to expire in March 2026
There are doubts about the future of a bookable minibus service after it emerged trips have been costing up to £50 a passenger.
Westlink was introduced in 2023 by the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) after several regular bus routes were lost in the area.
The scheme has government funding until March, but will have to pay for itself for it to continue after that.
WECA mayor, Helen Godwin, said her team are "evaluating how best to keep people connected, improve these demand-responsive services, and ensure value for money".
David Redgewell said some have been taking advantage of the service, using it like "their own personal taxi service"
Passengers book trips on an app and are taken to existing bus routes for a £2 fare.
The service was set-up to run in areas of Bristol, Bath, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset in 2023. However it has carried very few passengers and at points it has cost £40-£50 per passenger per trip to operate the service.
David Redgewell is a member of the South West Transport Network that campaigns for transport users in the region. He has used the bus service and said often he is one of the only two people on the minibus. He said the service has come down in cost and now works out at about "£14 per passenger, [which is] still a lot of money".
Roger French, who writes a bus and train blog, said the minibus service is "completely financially unsustainable".
Mayor Godwin said the contracted buses predated her time as mayor but she appreciates the "challenges of trying to fill the gaps in the commercial network".
Government funding for the dial-a-ride Westlink minibus service is set to expire in March 2026
There are doubts about the future of a bookable minibus service after it emerged trips have been costing up to £50 a passenger.
Westlink was introduced in 2023 by the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) after several regular bus routes were lost in the area.
The scheme has government funding until March, but will have to pay for itself for it to continue after that.
WECA mayor, Helen Godwin, said her team are "evaluating how best to keep people connected, improve these demand-responsive services, and ensure value for money".
David Redgewell said some have been taking advantage of the service, using it like "their own personal taxi service"
Passengers book trips on an app and are taken to existing bus routes for a £2 fare.
The service was set-up to run in areas of Bristol, Bath, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset in 2023. However it has carried very few passengers and at points it has cost £40-£50 per passenger per trip to operate the service.
David Redgewell is a member of the South West Transport Network that campaigns for transport users in the region. He has used the bus service and said often he is one of the only two people on the minibus. He said the service has come down in cost and now works out at about "£14 per passenger, [which is] still a lot of money".
Roger French, who writes a bus and train blog, said the minibus service is "completely financially unsustainable".
Mayor Godwin said the contracted buses predated her time as mayor but she appreciates the "challenges of trying to fill the gaps in the commercial network".
| Re: WESTlink Demand Responsive Transport services Posted by grahame at 21:42, 28th April 2023 | |
WESTlink is currently being trialled in Knowle, Windmill Hill and Totterdown. Unlike dial-a-ride, where passengers can be picked up from their homes, WESTlink picks up and drops off passengers at bus stops.
I hadn't realised it was still based on bus stops!My understanding is that it may be slightly wider than that - any NaPTAN (National Passenger Transport Access Node). There are, for example, reports of it booked to pick up (and doing so) at Freshford Station, where there previously was no bus service. This could be extremely useful, making Freshford Station a logical interchange from rail for a longer distance journey to road for a final leg to a destination in the WestLink area.
| Re: WESTlink Demand Responsive Transport services Posted by Bmblbzzz at 19:35, 28th April 2023 | |
More on how it works here:
While not a replacement for these cuts, a new demand responsive travel (DRT) service called WESTlink launched in April to help connect communities to core transport routes across the region. This shared, flexible service enables passengers to pre-book a trip by specifying the time and desired pick-up and drop-off, via an App, the website or by phone.
WESTlink is currently being trialled in Knowle, Windmill Hill and Totterdown. Unlike dial-a-ride, where passengers can be picked up from their homes, WESTlink picks up and drops off passengers at bus stops.
I hadn't realised it was still based on bus stops!WESTlink is currently being trialled in Knowle, Windmill Hill and Totterdown. Unlike dial-a-ride, where passengers can be picked up from their homes, WESTlink picks up and drops off passengers at bus stops.
| Re: WESTlink Demand Responsive Transport services Posted by rogerw at 12:22, 4th April 2023 | |
Dan Norris was on local radio yesterday morning and admitted that there is shortage of drivers with numbers well short of requirements
| Re: WESTlink Demand Responsive Transport services Posted by grahame at 11:33, 4th April 2023 | |
There’s a long article about WESTlink in busandtrainuser.com
A good article and explanation of the new system. I admit to being glad it's not in our area; reading lots of feedback on social media and wondering whether to try out a journey. Experiences welcome here.
| Re: WESTlink Demand Responsive Transport services Posted by Red Squirrel at 10:16, 4th April 2023 | |
There’s a long article about WESTlink in busandtrainuser.com, here: https://busandtrainuser.com/2023/04/04/when-up-to-50-drt-minibuses-replace-up-to-40-bus-routes/
| WESTlink Demand Responsive Transport services Posted by Red Squirrel at 11:13, 30th March 2023 | |
Details of the WESTlink DRT services are now available here:
https://travelwest.info/westlink/
This includes an app, maps of the zones and fares.
I have installed the app, and checked out the zones - they seem pretty huge. The southern zone stretches from Weston S M almost as far as Trowbridge, for example. It’ll be interesting to see how this works out..!
