(Title Image: Transport for Wales)
Transport for Wales and Newport Bus are trialling a new app-based system, “Fflecsi“, which will enable the public to book bus journey on-demand along selected routes.
Instead of following a fixed timetable, the Fflecsi services change their routes to adapt to wherever passengers need to go.
While for the time being services are aimed at key workers – and coronavirus social distancing measures have been put in place – Transport for Wales and the Welsh Government is considering rolling out the system to other parts of Wales in the future.
A similar scheme, Bwcabus, has been used in Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire since 2009 with journeys booked through a call centre, but this is the first time on-demand bus services have been trialled in an urban local authority using a mobile phone app.
Economy & Transport Minister, Ken Skates (Lab, Clwyd South) said: “The pilot scheme we will be trialling in Newport over the next 3 months could shape the bus services of the future. While we are living with the restrictions on our every-day lives, this demand responsive transport system could be the answer to some problems faced by our key workers trying to get to and from work at a time that suits their shifts.”
