Arriva launched its ArrivaClick on-demand minibus service on the Drummond Estate development in Leicestershire on Monday 29 April 2019. It is the first time in the UK that a Section 106 agreement has been used to fund a digitised demand-responsive transport provision.
In Leicestershire, ArrivaClick serves 29 square kilometres and a population of 70,000. It covers the New Lubbesthorpe area from Leicester Forest East to Enderby that includes new homes, schools and a business park.
Previously, developer-contributed Section 106 funding has gone towards fixed-route bus services. ArrivaClick is app-based and it operates flexibly and on-demand. Sustainable transport is just one of the initiatives delivered at Drummond Estate to provide attractive housing.
Says ArrivaClick Business Development Director Asiya Jelani: “This pioneering approach means shorter journey times and thousands of virtual bus stops. It presents a lower-cost option that is easily flexible and that has been shown to be attractive to non-traditional bus users.”
ArrivaClick already operates in Kent and on Merseyside. In those areas, research by Arriva has shown that up to 40% of users previously travelled by car. Up to 56% of travellers use the DRT service so they don’t have to find a parking space at their destination.
Drummond Estate will grow over the next two decades, the developer says. The ArrivaClick service there is operated with Mercedes-Benz Sprinters with low-floor EVM Cityline conversions that are finished to a high standard and which include various passenger amenities.
The ride aggregation technology behind the ArrivaClick concept is provided by ViaVan.
