Transport: Feeder Routes

Many of us, in the country at least, live a considerable walk from a bus stop - and then it may only have a single service a few times a day. Getting to and from the main routes can be such a problem that many of us just jump in our cars for the whole journey instead.

This section discusses:

Existing Provision

What

Commuting and getting kids to school are discussed separately. Here we are concerned with the occasional, ad hoc and more varied journeys that we all need to make from time to time.

How

For those of us fortunate enough to have a car, we make a choice every time we go somewhere - and most of the time we take the car because it is so much more convenient than the alternatives.

In a (very) few rural districts of Britain, the postman drives a van with a number of passenger seats and can give residents a ride into town or to their nearest bus route.

Volume and Frequency

Most of us will make a journey away from the house, other than to school or work at least once a week. Many of the elderly and disabled would dearly love to be able to get out more, to visit friends, to shop but can't.

Financial Model

Owning a car is a very significant cost - even before we start to add petrol and wear and tear that every mile costs.

Local buses are often quite affordable and for many of us with second cars, it would be cheaper to use the bus than own the car. It is the convenience factor - of getting our shopping home easily; not having to walk to the bus-stop in the rain; not knowing if the bus is on time or if we'll get a seat that stop us using it.

Providers

A large number of local bus and, to a lesser extent train companies provide coverage for short hops across most of the country.

Trends

Rural areas have seen bus services drop off over the last few decades as more and more of us own cars and even second cars hence do not rely on them to the same extent our parents' generation did.

Increasing environmental awareness and ever increasing fuel prices should be pushing us back to public transport - but actually just makes us all fell more guilty and become poorer.

With Localnet

What

The OmniVans can provide the “spokes” on a classic hub and spoke feeder system – much like the way American airlines bring people to their network hubs on small regional jets to fill the more efficient and longer range wide-bodied jets that they fly between their hubs.

A second class of journey is also included. “Popping round to the neighbours” is taken for granted by those of us able to walk a mile or so without worry or who have a car readily available. For the elderly and infirm, however, just visiting their best friend a mile away can become a thing of the past.

How

With careful planning and flexible vehicles that can carry people, delivery boxes and any combination of these it will be possible to provide such additional “feeder” services at very low incremental cost. Minor variations in routes and staggered departure times of delivery rounds will give people a range of options and times at which they can travel from home or very nearby to their local delivery hub.

Those wanting to visit their neighbours within the localnet area simply get off the delivery van as it passes their friend's house if they share a delivery route. Or they get out at the LocalHub and climb aboard the next van going out on the route their friend lives on. Those relying on this service often have time on their hands and will not mind spending a half hour or so having a coffee or browsing the shops or library at the LocalHub. Alternatively, their friend can come to the LocalHub on their delivery van too and meet them half way. This is potentially a huge boon for the elderly.

As the hubs will normally be located at the centre of a district or village, many will naturally be on crossroads where more than one bus route passes by. The hub therefore becomes a busier bus-stop than the half dozen or so request stops that now have fewer people waiting at them – because they came to the hub on the delivery vans. This also helps to increase the vitality and viability of the hub as a meeting, shopping and eating venue.

Containers of boxes need to be transported between LocalHubs. In the same was that the delivery vans can flexibly accommodate a mixture of people and goods on each delivery round, so larger vehicles can be made flexible and fitted with a variable mix of passenger compartments versus goods containers. In this case, as the journeys will be longer than on the delivery Van, more comfortable seats will be provided in compartments that are designed specifically for passengers. Such vehicle might look a bit like a double-decker bus but have a flexible mix of passenger and goods OmniPods on the lower deck.

Volume and Frequency

Those who have impaired mobility but are not pushed for time can get on and off the delivery van as it passes their front door two or three times a day. It may take them an hour or more to reach the hub as the van will have to continue delivering and collecting till it reaches the end of its route before heading back to the hub. However, as they’re therefore the first ones to climb aboard, they get to sit in one of the two comfortable, permanent seats up front – where they can talk to the driver (while stationary of course) and relax while he finishes delivering.

Those prepared to walk up to four hundred yards will probably have many more options as this will cross several delivery routes’ return paths. From there they can get a more frequent and quicker ride in return for this short walk. As each van carries no more than twenty people and travels at 20mph there is no need for formal “stops”. Anyone should be able to wave the van down at any point on their route where it’s safe for it to stop. Most of these passengers will sit on fold-down seats in the body of the van but as this journey is typically less than three miles and lasts no more than fifteen minutes, a basic padded seat is adequate for them.

Financial Model

Charging for rides to the hub should be kept very simple. Everyone will be carrying a contactless Localnet tag on their key-ring and simply waving this at the door of the van will ensure they are charged for their journey. Those who choose to reserve seats online can do so at no extra charge – but they will then be charged for the journey if they do not turn up for it.

As the localnet services are acting as feeders to the main routes, an end-to-end fare should be charged, of which localnet gets a reasonable slice in return for bringing passengers to the main routes.

The elderly and infirm should be given free transport on localnet vans.

This could even be extended to anyone who does not have more than one car in their family as a further incentive to reduce the level of car ownership in an area. In addition to reducing congestion and pollution, this reduces competition for parking space in residential areas and, in turn, makes it easier for the localnet vans to wend their way through often tightly packed residential streets.

Providers

The local hops are run by localnet as part of the delivery van service.

Existing bus companies can continue to run services but no longer need to wind their way through every hamlet or housing estate in the hope of finding a few more passengers at outlying stops. A more direct route is shorter, faster and, if localnet feeder services bring more people to each stop, significantly more profitable.

Rural bus services are declining and it is rare to see even a small bus that is full during the day on a country run. As fuel costs increase, these become less and less viable. The supply lorries that bring post and goods to the hubs from larger depots in the neighbouring towns will typically visit two or three LocalHubs, dropping off and collecting pallets of goods during the day. Each hub would have several such deliveries throughout the day and more overnight – as newspapers, milk etc. arrive for the following morning’s rounds.

As with the OmniVan, properly designed vehicles can carry flexible combinations of goods and passengers. A modular design in which sections containing passenger seats can be swapped as needed with pallet areas would let the same set of vehicles deliver goods at night, passengers in rush hour and a combination of both throughout the rest of the day. These vehicles would provide a very cost effective network of variable capacity bus routes criss-crossing the local area. An added benefit of these being run as part of the overall delivery system is that their schedules can easily be tied in with those of the feeder services from the delivery vans.

Evolution

As petrol prices continue to rise, the financial incentives to travel by public transport should increase. When coupled with the ready availability of shared cars as described under Electric Car Pool, so more people should see the sense in switching from owning a second car that is mainly used for ad hoc journeys and come to rely on localnet services instead.

Increasing levels of integration between localnet and the bus/train operators over time would benefit customers:

 

Comparison

The table below assesses the impact of localnet on this service on a scale of -5 to +5 (details here)

  Existing services As part of localnet Score
Scope Many hamlets and isolated dwellings have no bus stop in walking distance. Every property would be visited at least twice a day. +5
Frequency Small villages have a few buses a day and often none on Sundays. Service seven days a week. +2
Security Walking to and from public transport leaves children, the elderly and disabled vulnerable. Known driver always present. Waiting at LocalHub - which is bustling rather than isolated bus-stop in the middle of nowhere. +3
Convenience Not good if weather bad and/or bus stop is far from house. Doorstep pickup allows many otherwise housebound people to get out. +3
Cost Reasonable. Should be comparable. 0
Quality Variable. May mean an extra change of bus at LocalHub - but much more pleasant there (covered; with coffee shop etc.) than changing at a bus shelter. 0
Carbon Footprint Much lighter for those who use public transport than those who drive. Should encourage many more to leave car behind. +3
Time Getting to route can take a long time. May need to wait for one more change than before. Visibility of location of delivery van avoids long waits for it. 0
Resources Used Second car used for these journeys. Fewer will bother with a second car. +2
Reuse & Recycling Second car will wear out quicker if used for these journeys. Second car, if bought at all, will last longer. +2
Landfill Waste Second car will wear out quicker if used for these journeys. Second car, if bought at all, will last longer. +2
Other Differentiators Allows housebound not only to travel on main routes but just to visit neighbours who live further than they can walk. +3

Services