What is Demand Responsive Transport?
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority are trialling Demand Responsive Transport (DRT), which is a new way of running buses. Instead of running to fixed timetables, the bus drivers are told where to drive by a device like a SatNav but behind it sits a sophisticated computer network that works out how soon one of several buses can get to you and which other required trips for other people can be incorporated in one journey.
How do I use it?
You can send a request from your smartphone at any time and there could be a bus with you within minutes. It’s a bit like Uber but for buses! If you don’t have access to a smartphone, or you’d prefer to talk directly to someone, then you can call to book too. There will be a dedicated customer contact centre to answer enquiries, take bookings and payments, and provide customer support.
How does it work?
The service aims to get a bus to you pretty much whenever you need it. Obviously it cannot serve everywhere all the time but the computer will join up several people’s needs for a bus into one combined trip. It will always aim to be as direct as possible, but if you’re on a bus heading into town, the bus may divert to pick other people up along the way. But you’re no longer tied to a timetable. We’re trialling DRT for six months and it will run in addition to the existing bus services.
The service isn’t door to door but it is “corner to corner”. It will define pick up points – and places where buses can turn around to get to the next pick up safely and efficiently.
When a customer uses the app to request a journey, the system will use algorithms to match the customer with a suitable vehicle. These algorithms use a scoring function to iterate through all active vehicles and pending passengers to generate the most optimal and balanced route for that particular journey. ETAs are then shown to the customer by calculating a score for the passenger based on walking distances to the closest pickup location, and from the desired drop-off location, as well as any expected waiting times. In case the customer will join an on-going ride, this score will also take into account the additional wait and ride time of any current passengers.
Customers will be able to book a journey on the DRT service ASAP or up to 1 week in advance.
What hours will the DRT service run?
It will run from 0700-1900 on Mondays to Fridays, and from 0900-1600 on Saturdays. There will be no service on Sundays or Bank Holidays.
Where will the DRT service run?
Across the western half of Huntingdonshire – everywhere west of the A1M, west of the A1198, north of the A428, as far north as Sawtry, as far west as Grafham and Kimbolton (inclusive). As well as serving St Neots it will also be able to serve a couple of out-of-area places: Cambourne Morrisons; all of Papworth Everard village; Thrapston Industrial Estate; Huntingdon town centre (the inner ring road and bus station); Huntingdon rail station; and Hinchingbrooke Hospital. Following feedback from the sessions we can confirm there is also a plan to look at providing discounted travel with an offer of £1 for onward journeys to Cambridge, Oxford, Bedford, Milton Keynes, Peterborough and St Ives. Hopefully we can help inspire the local community to use public transport for their entire journey.
We will be staying in touch over the next few months to keep you updated on developments. We have also compiled a report with all your feedback which we are sharing with the tech developers, the operator and the marketeers. Thank you once again for your time, it was greatly appreciated.
For more information about the trial, please