Residents of an area of Glasgow that struggles with access to the city’s major hospital are about to see transport provision improve thanks to a self-sufficient DRT route that will be launched by G15 Buses
Residents of Drumchapel in north-west Glasgow are set to benefit from a much-improved link to the city’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital thanks to an innovative scheme that will use a minibus operated under a Section 19 permit.
It’s the idea of G15 Buses, which is a registered charity. Organiser Will Thomson says that an existing service, run by a commercial operator and taking 90 minutes via a winding route to cover the relatively short distance as the crow flies, fails to meet Drumchapel’s needs.
He proposes to commence a members-only route that caters solely to travellers to and from the hospital, and an exercise in usage prediction has shown a demand exists that is not currently being met.
Scottish regulations allow Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) to be applied for by the operator of a service run under a Section 19 permit, despite observing an on-demand schedule.
The use of volunteer drivers, money from a variety of funding sources and a modest fee from a minimum of 60 members will allow the direct hospital link to become a reality sooner rather than later, says Will.
Charitable ambition
G15 Buses is able to take advantage of funding streams available in the charitable field and from elsewhere, but it will not seek subsidy from either Strathclyde Partnership for Transport or the NHS.
“We have examined running the service using a Section 22 permit from the start, but as it is something untried, that would pose too much of a risk, as would obtaining an O-Licence,” says Will.
If the route is successful, he doesn’t rule out transferring it to a Section 22 permit or an O-Licence later, but for now the link will operate on a pre-arranged basis with specified pick-up and drop-off points.
Rules relating to G15 Buses’ charitable status mandate that users must live and/or work in Drumchapel. All of its trustees are residents of the area and that is a key part of what Will believes will be the idea’s appeal.
“At the moment, travelling between Drumchapel and the hospital is not easy. Our service will not step on anyone’s toes.
“It will deliver something that is not currently available, will not compete with any other routes and will not make a profit. We will only serve passengers going to and from the hospital.
“Membership fees, BSOG and money from the Scottish government will go towards covering expenses. The more external funding we receive, the lower the user fee will be.”
Holders of concessionary passes will receive free travel and G15 Buses will be reimbursed for that by the Scottish government, adding a further revenue stream.
Self-sufficiency
The way a membership fee is to be applied is interesting. It will be £15, held in a trust that is inaccessible to G15 Buses.
At the end of each month, an amount will be transferred to the charity to cover the member’s use of the service. They will then have 28 days to restore the balance to £15. It’s likely that users will be issued with RFID cards to track their journeys.
What of the response from commercial operators? Will has not kept the proposed service a secret and he has already met with one such organisation to explain what is planned. “The operator that I have spoken to accepts our proposals for what they are. What we are planning is not, at the moment, viable as a commercial service.”
Debut expected soon?
If all goes according to plan at G15 Buses, operation is likely to begin around early April.
At the turn of February its Section 19 permit was about to be issued, and once that had been received, sourcing a suitable minibus and drivers would follow.
Initially, two round trips per day are expected to operate, but Will adds the caveat that there is potential to increase that should demand dictate. Users will book no later than the day prior to travel and a maximum of two predetermined pick-up points will be served.
He believes that, if the service proves to be successful, it is transplantable to other parts of Glasgow that struggle with access to the city’s main hospital. And there are a number of those; although some areas have very good commercial bus services, many do not.
“Our intention with this project is to do something for the people of Drumchapel. Community cohesion in such scenarios works; I have seen it elsewhere,” says Will.
“If we utilise BSOG and concessionary reimbursement correctly, I believe that the service will not require a huge amount of additional funding to make it viable.
“If it doesn’t work, we can change it at short notice. That is a benefit of a Section 19 permit. But if it goes as well as I think it will, we will look to add a second vehicle before progressing to a Section 22 permit and, ultimately, an O-Licence.”
