Community Transport

As settlement and working patterns become more dispersed, it can be difficult to provide conventional public transport services at reasonable cost.  Community Transport  -whether provided by voluntary groups, social enterprises, local authorities or by Nexus - can fill this gap, improving accessibility and reducing social exclusion. 

Many Community Transport providers are operating in relative isolation, with little overall co-ordination. In some cases this need not be an issue if the user base is local and the services provided are well publicised. Often however potential users may not be aware of the travel options available to them, and duplication of resources can occur where several transport providers, including the voluntary sector, local authorities, the health services and others, are operating services which could be better provided from one resource.

Local Transport Plan partners are therefore exploring ways of using emerging technology to provide bespoke solutions at a realistic cost - the aim being to provide flexible services designed around users’ needs, whilst reducing costs.  However, co-operation and coordination with providers of conventional public transport will still be important.

LinkUp

Nexus’s LinkUp service is a Demand-Responsive Transport (DRT) operation that is designed to provide a flexible service for areas (or even individual homes) not on a commercial bus route, the aim being to take customers to local community facilities or to an interchange point (such as a main bus stop or Metro station) where they can connect with conventional public transport services. 

LinkUp forms part of the PTA’s strategy to reduce social exclusion through public transport. 3,000 passengers per week are using LinkUp’s fleet of brand-new, fully-accessible Optare Solo mini buses.

TaxiCard

The Nexus Taxicard scheme (replacing TaxiLink in September 2008)  supplements the LinkUp operation, by providing transport for people who still need a specialist service as they cannot use low floor buses or Metro. 

The TaxiCard scheme offers a door-to-door service using accessible taxis, costing a basic fare of £1.50 per trip, plus any amount over a total of £4. Anyone in receipt of the following benefits automatically qualifies for the Scheme:

· Attendance allowance
· Are registered as severely visually impaired or blind
· High Rate Mobility Component of Disability living allowance Taxibus

It is hoped that the new scheme will create around 200,000 additional taxi journeys a year for users with mobility difficulties.

Other services

A number of innovative experimental schemes have been introduced across Tyne and Wear under the legislative provision of the 1985 Transport Act.  By experimenting with different types of service, tailored to the specific needs of local communities, we can ascertain the most viable options for wider roll-out.

Examples of such schemes include the Eighton Banks taxibus scheme, in Gateshead, and two shared taxi routes in South Tyneside, the "Lawe Topper" (which serves the Lawe Top area of South Shields) and a service in Low Simonside (Jarrow).

New services in South Tyneside

In February 2008, Nexus launched three new services in South Shields, providing important links to local shops and to South Tyneside Hospital.

A new hail-and-ride taxi-bus service links South Shields town centre with the district hospital via the new Simonside Metro station on Wenlock Road.

The service, which was free for the first two weeks, operates hourly from Monday to Saturday, 9.30am-5.30pm, and can be hailed by passengers at any safe stopping point along the route.

Nexus has also teamed up with South Tyneside Council and Connect Community Transport to provide two weekly shopper services every Wednesday to the ASDA store in Boldon, using a spacious 12-seater mini-bus.

One service operates in the Simonside area and the other in the Whiteleas area.  Both shopper services will stop at sheltered housing accommodation along the route to help the elderly residents get out and about.

Taxis

Taxis complement the Tyne and Wear public transport system by providing a completely flexible service, available from any location at almost any time of the day or night.  As they operate on a 24-hour basis, they are crucial to the evening economy, particularly in the cities of Newcastle and Sunderland. 

In 2007, Tyne and Wear Plan Partners commissioned a study into the role of taxis in the region and this is yielding valuable data about taxi usage and ways in which we can work with operators to enable taxis to play an even more valuable role in our public transport network.