Thirty years after it first appeared as a tool of deregulation, Stagecoach has reinvented the highfrequency urban minibus with the launch of its Little & Often-branded trial in Ashford on 12 February. DAVID JENKINS explains the background, the concept and tries it out during its first week.
The minibus revolution was already underway in 1985, the year that the eponymous Hollywood film was released. If a British equivalent of Marty McFly had time travelled 30 years into the future, he would not have been surprised to see herds of minibuses offering frequent journeys around our towns.
But the rest of us have seen the 16-seater grow bigger and bigger until the mandatorily accessible Optare Solos and Dennis Darts (and the latter’s Enviro200 successors) have become the ubiquitous choice to provide routes in our smaller towns and cities. And while vehicle size has grown, frequencies have reduced – though many are still better than their pre-minibus equivalents.
In the meantime, a change in culture means we are less likely to want to wait; we expect instant service. There also is less reason to visit town centres, as first out-of-town retail has established itself, and more recently the growth of interne…
