We recently funded a second round of three rural mobility pilot schemes in the Western Gateway region, and one bus project was launched with a bang earlier this month.
The wheels on the bus went around in Dorset for the first time on the LB1, thanks to Western Gateway STBs £20,000 contribution, along with the hard work of West Dorset Commons and Lyme Regis Town Council.
This newly instated bus links Bridport and Lyme Regis, and gives the public the option to travel between the two places on Friday and Saturday evenings. The bus runs from Bridport from 6.15pm, with the last bus leaving Lyme Regis at 11.30pm, stopping at Chideock, Morecombelake and Charmouth on route. The service is run by First Bus, with a double-decker that can accommodate up to 90 passengers.
Ahead of the bus’ voyage on the 1st May, the mayor of Lyme Regis, Cllr Philip Evans, and the mayor of Bridport Cllr Anne Rickard, each gave a short speech and pulled the ribbon on the bus.
Cllr Philip Evans, mayor of Lyme Regis, said: “The launch of the new summer evening bus service has been a fantastic success so far.
“It’s been great to see so many people taking advantage of the extended hours, making evenings out more accessible and convenient and boosting the night-time economy.”
The last bus pulled into Lyme Regis on Saturday night, with cheers from the waiting crowd. Across the first two weekends, there were over 300 passengers on board. You can watch the reaction here. Some of the comments on social media include:
“Will definitely be using this service awesome”
“That would have saved my husband many a late evening journey both ways to pick up our teenage daughter back in the day. Finally!! Well done to everyone involved in setting this up”
“This is a fantastic idea, well done, hoorah!“
The timetable for the bus can be found here.
Along with our neighbouring Sub-national Transport Body, Peninsula Transport, we’ll also be sharing the results of our first round of rural mobility pilot schemes in our July webinar. Register here.
