The Oxford Bus Company celebrated the first anniversary of its PickMeUp service on Tuesday 25 June 2019
PickMeUp was the county’s first transport service of its kind when it was introduced in June last year, enabling passengers to request a minibus pick-up within 15 minutes using an app
The demand responsive bus service has exceeded all forecasts, says the firm, providing more than 140,000 rides over the last year for the 25,000 passengers who have downloaded the app and registered to travel across Oxford. It is now carrying an average of nearly 4,000 passengers per week.
Phil Southall, Oxford Bus Company Managing Director (pictured), says: “We are proud to have launched such an innovative service in Oxford that provides passengers with more choice and flexibility in how they travel.
“The number of rides that have been taken in the first year demonstrates there is a real appetite for our service that is transforming how people travel and in an environmentally friendly way.
“We are one year into a three-year pilot scheme and we are now entering a critical stage for PickMeUp. We now need to scale up and make the corner to corner service a viable business to ensure the trial is successful.
“We’d appeal to people to use the service, and to local businesses to help support us to make it a permanent fixture in the city.”
Go-Ahead Group-owned Oxford Bus Company has invested significantly in launching and expanding the PickMeUp service. The fleet has grown from six to nine buses and 26 jobs have been created to date.
