After two years of piloting the innovative Pingo service in Berwickshire, Scottish Borders Council has replaced it with a more conventional taxibus.
Pingo — operated by Borders Buses — was introduced in May 2022 for people living in the more remote areas of rural Berwickshire without access to public transport. The objective of the pilot was to introduce digital demand-responsive transport to serve the new Reston railway station while enhancing transport links into employment, education and fixed route bus services. During the experiment, more than 20,000 journeys were made.
The contract for its provision expired on May 19, after which Hawick-based Teviot Taxi began operating a part-replacement demand-responsive taxibus service; it was the only operator to tender to operate it to the council’s specification. The operation has reverted to telephone booking, rather than the Ride Pingo app used previously.
Long-term sustainability has been sought by combining the taxibus service with existing school transport contracts to maximise the efficient use of vehicles throughout the day. However, to accommodate the school transport requirements, the hours of operation have been reduced to 10:00 to 14:00…
