Press Notices
27 November 2008
Flexible taxi services hold the key to halting rural stagnation
The Government's transport advisor, the Commission for Integrated Transport (CfIT), is calling today for a large scale, long-term pilot to assess how shared taxi services could transform rural transport in the UK and address a worrying trend in social exclusion.
Rural bus provision has declined steadily over the past twenty years as bus operators' focus on more lucrative urban markets. Combined with this has been a move away from local service provision - the closure of post offices, shops and garages in particular - resulting in poor access to many facilities for the 19% of the English population (9.5 million people) who live in rural areas.
CfIT has assessed shared taxi schemes - or what it has christened 'TaxiPlus' services - from across Europe and the UK. Research undertaken by Mott MacDonald on behalf of CfIT has assessed these schemes which operate on a large scale in many rural areas of mainland Europe, and are particularly successful in the Netherlands and Switzerland where sophisticated journey matching software is used to match people's trips. Because 'TaxiPlus' services only run when requested, they are more cost-effective than conventional bus services in remote areas and at off-peak times, providing services seven days a week from early in the morning until late at night in places where a conventional bus service would not be viable.
CfIT found schemes in mainland Europe provided from five to fifty times as many passenger trips as typical schemes in England, and have achieved significant economies of scale. CfIT has concluded that we now need to trial a large-scale 'TaxiPlus' scheme in the UK and believes the economies of scale achieved on mainland Europe should also be possible in England.
CfIT recommends a pilot 'TaxiPlus' scheme, running at least at County level and over seven years. It could offer subsidised, on-demand, door-to-door services linking in to other transport modes plus bookable services at off-peak times on core bus routes. The pilot would evaluate how shared taxis could improve accessibility, raise social inclusion, and offer other social benefits. It would also test potential to achieve modal shift away from the private car, bringing with it climate change benefits that would justify additional subsidy.
CfIT's research has identified that whilst there are no insurmountable regulatory or legislative obstacles to the development of 'TaxiPlus' schemes in the UK, the framework is complicated. In the medium term, reforms to the licensing system for taxis and to the funding for public transport would help stimulate services in rural areas.
Dr Lynn Sloman, chair of the CfIT Working Group, said "Our work has highlighted the difficulties faced by rural communities. Dispersed, small populations are hard to serve using conventional buses, and in many rural areas bus services are infrequent, stop early in the day, and don't run at all at weekends. Not surprisingly, people feel they can't rely on public transport and instead use private cars. But the evidence shows that this leads to real hardship, with low-income households forced into car ownership when they cannot really afford it. What we want to see is more flexible public transport services that can link people back into local facilities and core bus and rail networks".
"The context of the Eddington Transport Study (2006), Stern Review of 2007 and DfT's Towards a Sustainable Transport System all point towards a growing desire within Government to address these issues, not only from a transport perspective but also climate change and, crucially, equality of opportunity".
For more information, please contact Lara Thornton or Luke Blair on 07855 848 082 or 07779 023 188 respectively.
- CfIT report: A New Approach to Rural Public Transport (and supporting documentation).
Notes to editors:
- CfIT was established in 1998 as the national advisor to the government on transport policy and has been a consistent supporter of road pricing.
- Mott MacDonald is a global management, engineering and development consultancy. Mott MacDonald's core business sectors cover transport, buildings, energy, water, environment, health, education, industry, oil and gas, communications and international development. For more information, go to www.mottmac.com or contact: Moya Galal / Hannah Seton on 0208 774 2205.
- TaxiPlus schemes are large-scale taxi-based operations, involving a fleet of small vehicles which, in additional to their core operation, operate a bookable, shared, demand responsive public transport service. The service utilises a centrally operated call centre to take passenger bookings, integrating with local bus, rail, and other transport networks to ensure connectivity and seamless travel.
- CfIT has published several reports on the issue, including in 2006 a major study of road pricing schemes around the world and a 2007 study on Transport and Climate Change. CfIT reports and other information can be found at cfit.independent.gov.uk.
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