Arriva is trialling an American-style demand responsive minibus service in the Kent town of Sittingbourne, where DAVID JENKINS reports that it hopes to meet the fast changing needs and expectations of modern commuters who manage their lives through smartphone apps
With the dust barely settled on Stagecoach’s new Little & Often network at Ashford (April Buses), another fleet of minibuses has descended on Kent.
These too are Mercedes-Benz Sprinters in a silver base livery, and although the town of Sittingbourne is less than 20miles from Ashford, the new ArrivaClick operation is a world away in the type of service being offered.
ArrivaClick is a modern take on what was once called dial-a-ride, and seeks to bridge the gap between taxi and conventional fixedroute bus service. On the other side of the Atlantic, it is the service described as ‘micro transit’, which brings together a small number of passengers to travel together on a flexible route to a broadly common destination.
This is one step up from UberPool or LyftLine, which are reducing bus passenger numbers in America’s larger cities
That is one step up from UberPool or LyftLine, which use smaller vehicles, but together are reported to be contribu…
