Rye Lane works and the TW3

Rye Lane will be closed tomorrow (Friday 15 September) for Kent County Council to carry out tree surgery works. The closure will be from the Willow Park junction and is expected to run from 0930 to 1530.

Once these works are completed, it should enable the Go Coach TW3 to once more take in the west of Otford and Willow Park. KCC and Go Coach committed to this, subject to tree clearance, and it was not possible for the tree works to be undertaken before this Friday. At present the bus waits by Otford Pond until its departure time to head down the A225 towards Sevenoaks, but the full TW3 route should be in operation from Monday, 18 September. Go Coach state on their website that they aim to serve this area from the 18th and will confirm once the works are done and the safety of the route has been confirmed.

 

BSIP funding to support more travel for bus pass holders

As part of the initiatives taken under our Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP), Kent County Council is ensuring that older and disabled people are able to use their concessionary bus passes for longer over the summer. 

At present, holders of the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) pass are restricted to using it after 9:30 in the morning. This will be relaxed in August, enabling pass holders to use it up until 11PM Monday to Friday, and all day at weekends.

This is one of a number of KCC schemes using BSIP funds and working with operators to promote bus usage. Other recent initiatives include cheaper fares for bus travellers within Swale and going into Maidstone, free summer bus travel for families with children on Free School Meals and a price freeze for the Kent Travel Saver.

BSIP: £16 million more for bus services in Kent

 In the course of last week, KCC had confirmation from the Department for Transport that we have been awarded an extra £16 million in funding related to our Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP). This was announced by the Roads Minister Richard Holden on his visit to Kent on Wednesday. I was not able to join him on this visit - I was already committed to a social care event in Margate - but I had been able to have a very valuable meeting with the Minister in London last Monday.

In one sense, this is not new news; KCC was awarded a total of £35 million in BSIP funding for 2022-25 early last year. However, the first tranche (of £19 million) did not arrive until near the end of the 2022-23 financial year, with the expectation that it be spent before April 2024. At that point, there was no firm commitment to the remaining funding, but it is very welcome that it has now been confirmed.

The original focus of BSIP funding was much more heavily tilted towards capital than revenue, and even with regard to revenue the government’s emphasis was on promoting viable new routes and bus travel in general rather than protecting uneconomic services. This remains broadly the case; however, given the general crisis in the industry, there is now somewhat more flexibility and KCC is doing its utmost to support the network, especially in relation to school services, though these are still services that have the potential for a sustainable long-term future.

We will be publishing more details of the deployment of BSIP funding soon. With all the caveats, and the challenges faced by the industry (as seen in the Stagecoach reductions in East Kent), this is nonetheless good news.

You can find the DfT’s media release here.

School buses latest

 The TW1 service from Kemsing and Seal to Tunbridge Wells has been secured as part of wider route replacements.

Since the announcement of major commercial bus service withdrawals in early July, Kent County Council’s officers have been working with operators to secure, wherever possible, replacement routes and other mitigations to ensure that children are able to get to school. 

Now with the return to school imminent, the later stages of this work have been coming to a conclusion, and across the county, and in West Kent in particular there is much more comprehensive coverage than seemed likely until recently.

The biggest impact on residents and families in Sevenoaks North and Darent Valley (and in neighbouring areas) has been in the Sevenoaks/ Tonbridge/ Tunbridge Wells travel corridor. The initial solution to this, developed with operators in mid- July, was for many students to change at Sevenoaks bus station. This was the best, perhaps only solution available at the time but gave rise to a lot of concerns: safety of the transfer, longer travel times,  the possibility of missed connections and (perhaps most importantly) the question of whether there would be adequate capacity on the routes going south from Sevenoaks. 

KCC officers were in any case carrying out capacity assessments as the next stage of the work to develop services for September. This was, for a time, trying to hit a moving target as applications for the Kent Travel Saver continue to come in over the summer. The end result, however, was to identify (working with the operators) extra capacity needed for those routes, and ultimately to agree that these buses would run from further back on the route, from the villages outside Sevenoaks. 

The TW3 and TW6 (starting from Shoreham and Badgers Mount respectively) are going direct to Tunbridge Wells, as is the TW4 starting in Westerham. Critically for residents of Kemsing and Seal, the TW1 direct route has now also been secured and will operate on the same route and timetable.

This final and very welcome outcome has come towards the end of the summer holidays, and for many families the wait has been very stressful. This has been a complex and demanding programme of work, done on the basis of collaboration with operators who are themselves under pressure and embracing much of the county’s network.

It is important to say that we are, in many respects, far from being out of the wood. Not all routes are covered in every aspect of what was available previously. Driver shortages and the extra capacity brought into use mean that there is little or no slack in the West Kent network. In East Kent, further service withdrawals have been set out but not yet confirmed by Stagecoach, to which our officers will have to respond. At the end of last week, national government (with whom we have, like many other local authorities, been in discussion about support for the industry) announced £130 million additional funding through the Bus Recovery Grant - but the exact form this will take, and its implications for Kent, remain unclear. Nonetheless, the position locally is much improved on what seemed likely some weeks ago.

You can find KCC’s media release on this here.

Buses: Go Coach-KCC agreement on Sevenoaks routes

As I mentioned in my previous post, Kent County Council officers are working with bus operators to find replacements wherever possible for routes that are under threat for September. Following discussions with our officers, Go Coach have brought forward proposals for Sevenoaks and the surrounding area that should make a real difference, especially to many school journeys.

We have set up a page on our website to keep residents up to date on developments and announcements about routes. You can find the link to the Go Coach route plan here. We’ll issue a more detailed account of it in the coming days.

Commercial bus service reductions

Many residents have written to me over the weekend about the withdrawal of a number of bus services which serve children traveling to school. Understandably, many families are shocked and dismayed. 

I am reproducing here - with some slight amendments - the information that I have sent to many residents who have written to me.

 The decisions taken reflect the pressures experienced by the commercial bus industry. Contrary to what has sometimes been said, they are not a result of any decision or funding reduction by Kent County Council. We are seeking to respond to this and I will set this out below.

 Some 97% of bus routes in Kent, including these that are being withdrawn, are commercial routes, neither subsidised nor commissioned by KCC. Across the country bus operators are under pressure, chiefly because of reductions in usage (still down at least 20% on pre-pandemic levels), along with fuel cost increases and severe labour shortages.

 Government did make available a Local Transport Fund (LTF) to help sustain services; some of it went via KCC, some of it direct to operators. But in any case it was central government, not KCC funding and government has been very clear that this funding ceases at the end of September. So the reductions are essentially commercial decisions to set what is intended to be a network that can keep running after the central government support ends. KCC officers have been required by government to work with and survey operators concerning their plans, but we are not the decision maker for them.

 It is confusing that, at around the same time, KCC did consult and decide on reductions in our subsidies for certain bus routes (this went through a KCC Committee in the course of last week). This was not a decision that we wanted to take, but it was part of the budget that we approved in February, and reflected the massive pressures on the council’s finances, which with rising inflation have only become more severe since the budget was set. Most importantly, those subsidy reductions are unrelated to, and have no effect on the school routes and other reductions that are listed in the document below. 

 We recognise and fully understand the great difficulties that these commercial route reductions mean for many families. The next stage for our officers is to work with operators to see if others can provide alterative services, doubtless configured differently from the existing pattern, that nonetheless address at least some of the gaps in service that have arisen. In a number of cases in the recent past, we have been able to do this to address threats to specific routes, and will do our utmost in this case. But it is important to be clear that there is no guarantee that this can be delivered.

A further element in this is that Kent (unlike many other parts of the country) was recently successful in securing £35 million from government over three years for delivery of a Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) starting in October. There are significant constraints on how this money can be spent. Two thirds of it is required to go on capital, not revenue spending, and within the revenue spending government has been very clear that this is not to be used to prop up existing service patterns. However, there may be some scope to use BSIP funding to pump prime new services that could help address some of the routes that have been lost. We are currently negotiating the details of our BSIP with the Department for Transport.

 My colleague David Brazier (Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport) and I will seek to keep residents updated on any developments.

Details of the service reductions are in this link, in particular in the table starting on the third page.

Reconnect bus pass for a second summer

Children and young people across Kent, along with their families, will have access to free bus travel across the county this summer - thanks to the county’s bus companies as part of the Reconnect programme developed by Kent County Council.

The passes will be available - for most students, via their school or college - to all students in Years 6 to 13. Family passes, for up to four family members, will be available for at least one child and one adult travelling together. For both, the period of free travel will be from 23 July to 31 August, and will cover Arriva and Stagecoach services, along with other services that KCC subsidises.

The Reconnect programme, launched last year and continuing through the 2022 summer holidays, was developed by KCC, guided by the ideas and views of the county’s young people, to enable them to take up social and educational opportunities after the disruptions of the pandemic.

You can find more details of the scheme in this KCC media release.

Bus changes and consultation

Commercial bus operators - in Kent, as across the country - are carrying out reductions in services, reflecting the severe pressures faced by the sector: higher costs (notably fuel prices), labour shortages and a decline in use since the pandemic (customer journeys are still running at only about 70% of pre-pandemic levels). Many of these changes are taking place this month, others taking effect in June.

These are entirely separate from Kent County Council’s consultation on reducing support for subsidised bus routes by £2m this year (though understandably the two developments are sometimes confused). This was a proposal that we came to exceptionally reluctantly as part of a very difficult budget agreed by County Council in February. 

These are currently very much proposals, on which a full consultation has been undertaken pending any decision. There are a couple of days left in the consultation; you can find the consultation here

The main impacts of these changes in Sevenoaks North and Darent Valley are to the Arriva 477 Orpington to Bluewater service (commercial change): the service will terminate in Dartford, no longer serving Bluewater or Darent Valley hospital, while the Sunday service between Swanley and Bluewater will be withdrawn. In the case of the KCC proposals regarding subsidised bus routes, the main effect will relate to the Kent Karrier services across Sevenoaks (as elsewhere in Kent), while the S11 Wilmington to Sevenoaks Go Coach service will be withdrawn, though much of this school focused service will be taken up by related routes such as the S10, S12 and S13.

It is confusing to hear that, at the same time, Kent County Council has been awarded £35 million (over the theee years 2022-23 to 2024-25) in support of our Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP), drawn up as required in response to the government’s National Bus Strategy. We submitted our BSIP on time in October, and have only just had the response from the Department for Transport; we had to make other decisions in the absence of this information.

The good news is that - unlike many authorities across the country - we did receive funding. The more complicated news is that about two-thirds of the funding - £24 million - has to be committed to capital schemes, such as bus priority schemes and, in more forward-looking fashion, support for the development of initiatives such as transport integration through Mobility as a Service (MaaS). The revenue element cannot be used to sustain existing services, though it may support development of additional services after October. So, while the BSIP funding is undoubtedly good news, it does not resolve the more immediate dilemmas. We are on a tight deadline to respond to the BSIP funding package, and will announce the outcome of this as soon as possible.

Concessionary fares on go2 in Shoreham

Today sees a further step forward following the good news that I was able to confirm about the go2 service in Shoreham. 

KCC Public Transport, working with Go Coach, agreed last week that as the supported bus service cannot be restored to Shoreham Village, that ENCTS (concessionary fares) bus passes will be accepted on the go2 shared demand responsive transport service.  Up until now the ENCTS passes have not been accepted on this service.

 Go Coach worked with their demand responsive transit software provider to put this arrangement in place and the key elements agreed were:

- Valid for free travel from 09:30 Monday to Friday and any time on Saturday, Sunday or Bank Holidays

- Maximum distance of free travel would be 7 miles (which allows access to Swanley/Sevenoaks destinations).

- Only available on go2 shared

- Pick up existing bus stops only and possibly outside the Kings Arms in the village.

- No routing of  buses through the High Street to Mill Lane.

The software provider had to test the system, but the launch was confirmed by Go coach on Tuesday evening (5 October).

From a user perspective when they book a go2 shared journey, the system will identify where they will be picked up and their destination.  It will advise when it can make the pick up and journey time length.  It will of course be free to pass holders.

Initially the system was agreed but not able to be operated because of fuel shortages. This meant that Go2 shared did not run as priority was given to school journeys. However, as of today (11 October) go2 shared services are running again.

The future of Kent’s bus services

Kent County Council is asking residents to help shape the future of bus services in Kent. 

The National Bus Strategy, launched in March, requires Local Transport Authorities such as KCC to work with bus operators to produce a Bus Service Improvement Plan to set out a vision and broad plan for better bus services across the county. This plan, the first iteration of which must be submitted by October, will provide the basis for securing funding from government to deliver its priorities. Detailed service plans and standards will be set out in an Enhanced Partnership Scheme, which must be in place by April 2022. KCC has already issued a statutory notice indicating its wish to establish an Enhanced Partnership Scheme.

As these plans are worked up, the County Council is asking for residents’ views. This will start with a two-item questionnaire, to be completed by 25 July, but you will also be able to subscribe to the page and be part of further, more detailed engagement as we move towards developing the Bus Service Improvement Plan and Enhanced Partnership Scheme. 

You can find the KCC media release on this here, with a link to the engagement page. The National Bus Strategy is a major initiative with potentially significant implications for Kent. There are always risks, and plenty of unknowns, but opportunities too. 

Details of new Go coach services and Demand Responsive Go2 service

From Monday 12 April, Go Coach will be introducing a range of new or reinstated services. Some of this builds on the company’s demand responsive Go2 service, which was introduced last year. All the proposals have been developed through close work with KCC. 

In terms of traditional, fixed line services, the following routes will be reinstated at the frequency levels seen prior to the third lockdown in January:

 Route 1 – Westerham - Sevenoaks

Route 2 –Swanley- Sevenoaks

Route 5 – Tonbridge - Sevenoaks

Route 6 – Kemsing – Sevenoaks

For residents of Farningham, Eynsford, Otford and Shoreham, Route 2 will be of most interest, and Route 6 for residents of Kemsing and Seal. 

The intra-Sevenoaks Route 8 will be restored to pre-Covid frequencies. You can find the Go Coach timetables here.

The Go2 service will be expanded to cover some of the areas served by the Sevenoaks taxi bus (one of the schemes that came out of KCC’s ‘Big Conversation’ on rural bus services). This service had limited patronage and ceased to operate during the pandemic. Now residents of Stanstead, Fairseat, West Kingsdown and East Hill will be able to access the Go2 service 6 days a week (Monday – Saturday) between the hours of 0800-1800.

Go2 will also replace part of the 429 Sunday service. The 429 (West Kingsdown to Dartford, including a stop at White Post Corner in Farningham) will reduce from an hourly to two hourly service Monday-Friday (and continue as such on Saturday). The Sunday service, which has been subsidised over a number of years by grants from KCC Members (I am one of them), will cease. However, Go2 will be expanded to  cover an area including West Kingsdown, Swanley, down the Darent Valley and central Sevenoaks. (The route beyond Swanley is covered by alternative commercial services).

In Sevenoaks, there will be a new set of flat fares for non-school journeys of £2.50, £5.00 for all day travel and £1.50 for 5-19 year olds. On Go2, ENCTS or disabled pass holders will not have free travel as on fixed line buses, but will be reduced to 50% of the standard adult fares with companion travellers paying a fare of only £1.00 per journey. 

These changes represent a significant step back towards service resumption by Go, while building on the very successful development of Go2. It’s worth noting that demand responsive bus services had a significant part in the government’s National Bus Strategy, to which KCC will soon be responding.

Changes and additions to Go Coach routes

Following the first few days of return to school, Go Coach (in discussion with KCC public transport team) is making a number of changes to its services: 

• Service T3 is split into two services.  The T3A, operated by Go Coach will operate Knockholt, Halstead, Knockholt Pound, Dunton Green, Riverhead Tesco, then express to Tonbridge Schools.  T3B, operated  by Access Travel will operate   Riverhead Tesco, Sevenoaks, River Hill, Hildenborough / Loop, Tonbridge, Tonbridge Schools.  Timings from each location will be as per the service T3
• Service S32 will operate  St Pauls Cray, Cray Avenue, Spur Road, Sevenoaks Road, Warren Road, The Highway, then express to Knole Academy (as per current timings)
• Service S33, a new service, will operate  Chelsfield Station, Windsor Drive, Green Street Green, Pratts Bottom, Badgers Mount, Halstead, Knockholt Pound, Dunton Green and Knole Academy.  Times will be the same as the S32
• Service S14, a new service, will operate Swanley, Farningham, Eynsford, Otford, Telston Lane, Trinity/ Weald of Kent and Knole Academy. The S14 will leave Swanley garage at 07:50 and then follow the S10, 12 and 13 down the valley, diverting off to Telston Lane to cover part of the S2 route before arriving at Trinity/ Weald of Kent at 08:30 and Knole Academy at 08:30
• The current TW10 will operate  Wrotham Heath, Platt, then express to  to Cross Keys, Tunbridge Wells (St Johns Road). Times will be the same as now
• The current TW11 will operate  Wrotham, Borough Green, then express  to Cross Keys, Tunbridge Wells (St Johns Road). Times will be the same as now
• New route, TW12 will operate Ightham, Plaxtol, Shipbourne, then express to Cross Keys, Tunbridge Wells (St Johns Road).  Times will be the same as now

These changes are to improve capacity on a number of services, improve journey times and convert some duplicates to services, making it easier to understand. They respond to the strong demand seen on these routes and are a clear sign of the willingness of the operator, working with KCC, to make speedy changes. KCC Public Transport will continue to monitor similar pressures across the county in the coming week.

More on return to school

I have set out in previous posts the steps that KCC, and in particular our public transport team, have been taking to support the coming week's return to school. This is now incorporated in a 'back to school' page on the KCC website, which includes a video to advise school students what to expect when travelling on buses under current conditions. You can also find an updated statement from the Cabinet Members for Transport (Michael Payne) and Education (Richard Long) here.

As I've described before, the Public Transport team has worked closely with operators to plan for the return to school. The latest figures that I have seen suggest that applications for the Kent Travel Saver are running at about 55% of previous years' levels. Buses will, of course, be operating at less than full capacity, though where they are designated (as an increased number are) as 'school only' buses it will be possible to make use of all the forward facing seats and so run at about two-thirds capacity rather than half. Nonetheless, the reduced numbers using the services will to a significant degree offset this. In addition, over a hundred additional vehicles will be running this week. 

Clearly this will be a difficult and stressful time for parents and students, and the coming week is likely to see a fast-changing situation. Even in a 'normal' year, transport in the early weeks of the autumn term can be difficult (which is a natural concern of parents of Year 7 students, just starting their secondary education, in particular) and there can be no guarantees as to what the experience will be in each and every part of the county. But a great deal of preparation has been undertaken in a short time. As a parent as well as a politician, I am hoping for the very best possible experience for students returning to school.

 

 

School transport for September

In my previous post, I tried to address the concerns of many parents over the decisions they face regarding their child's transport to school in September. The application 'window' for the Kent Travel Saver (KTS) expires tomorrow, though this is only to guarantee the pass being available before the start of term; KCC will seek to process applications received subsequent to that date as quickly as possible.

With that in mind, Kent County Council has issued a further statement to make the current position as clear as possible. This has been delayed somewhat by the wait for further government guidance, which has yet to be issued. In this, Michael Payne (Cabinet Member for Highways and Transportation) and Richard Long (Cabinet Member for Education and Skills) set out the current position on capacity and the extensive work that has taken place between KCC and bus operators to prepare for the return to school and to ensure the maximum safety of children while travelling.

You can find the KCC statement here.

Return to school: latest

The 'window' for applying for the Kent Travel Saver (KTS) closes on 9 August, and many parents remain concerned that they could commit to the cost of the KTS and yet find that there may not be sufficient buses running because of the pressures that social distancing requirements place on capacity. I have posted on this before but the situation continues to change and I have now been able to update with our Public Transport team. There are a number of key points:

From September, operators serving the Darent Valley and surrounding areas (including Go Coach,Hams and Arriva) will be operating their full timetable of normal local bus services, including all school specific services. Timetables should be published in the very near future.

Buses which carry both school students and ordinary members of the public will operate according to government guidance for buses on social distancing. (This includes passengers sitting a minimum of a metre apart; other mitigations such as no use of side seats, those where people can sit opposite each other, no standing passengers and no seat used behind the driver; use of face coverings; measures to protect the driver; and an enhanced hygiene regime). These buses will operate at 50% of normal capacity

Buses which in practice carry only school students will be converted to school only where possible and KCC Public Transport are working with operators to assess how this can best be done. These buses would run under the (different) government guidance for dedicated school transport, which has many of the same mitigations in place as the general public bus, but allows students to sit less than a metre apart. The bus will on this guidance be able to carry 70% of its normal capacity. KCC Public Transport and the operators will advise which services or journeys have been made school only

KCC Public Transport are developing a video presentation, which should be ready in the coming week, to explain what using a bus under these conditions will be like for students. This will go on the KCC and operator websites

KCC Public Transport are monitoring take up of all passes for September and fully understand capacity limits on services and journeys. They will ensure that where they believe there are to be any capacity issue, that additional capacity is provided via another bus. Operators have vehicles available to provide additional capacity

KCC will be issuing further communications on this. It had been intended to issue a formal communication this week, but there conitnue to be delays in receiving government guidance and this led to its being held back. KCC nonetheless continues to monitor and review government guidance, and will respond to further changes. In the meantime, this hopefully provides a clearer picture of developments.

School transport: the autumn planning challenge

There are many questions – above all from parents – about transport to school in the light of the recent government announcement about return in September. For KCC there is still a lot of uncertainty because the announcement came only in the course of last week,  followed by a letter from Transport Minister Baroness Vere to local authorities on Friday and there is quite a bit more government guidance but hasn't come out yet. KCC officers are working on the issue flat out but there are quite a few uncertainties and challenges. Here are a few:

- 'Entitled scholars' -  the children who get free transport because they are attending their 'nearest appropriate school' – are expected to travel in their 'bubbles' (year groups for secondary schools)

-  It appears that some of the social distancing requirements on buses are likely to be relaxed, but they will still only operate at 50 - 60% (at best) of capacity. Together these are likely to increase the need for buses

-  Government is discouraging other students from taking the bus, but it's not prohibited and for many of course driving children in isn't an option (quite apart from other bad effects). The 'window' for applications for the bus pass (Kent Travel Saver) opens on 13 July, and the level of take-up of that will clearly influence what capacity is needed

- There is an expectation from government that local authorities will fund extra bus capacity where needed -  how this is to be financed and the (physical) number of buses available is less clear

 So a lot of detailed work is needed and is being undertaken. We are likely to plan on the basis of major towns and the journeys in to them. KCC will get communications out as soon as possible and recognises the huge importance of this for parents.

Refunds on Kent Travel Saver

Kent County Council has had enquiries from a number of parents about possible refunds for their payments to the Travel Saver (formerly known as the Freedom Pass or the Young Person's travel Pass) once it became clear that schools would close for some considerable time. We've been approached in relation to both the Travel Saver and the 16+ Travel Saver. I have been approached on this by constituents and other parents and we sought to come to a quick decision.

Although application fees have now been surpassed by the cost of the scheme to the Council and KCC's normal policy has always been not to provide refunds, it is clear that these are not normal circumstances. Many families are feeling financial pressures during the current lockdown, and for the present they have no reason to use the service. And while the Travel Saver is heavily subsidised by the County Council (to the tune of almost two-thirds of the cost of the bus journeys that it entitles young people to), that effect is spread over the entire school year. KCC is therefore currently reviewing the level of any refund that can be provided and how it can be delivered.  Once this is determined, it will be communicated to parents.  For anyone paying by instalments, KCC arranged for the cancellation of the final payment, which was due on 28 March.  

KCC will be in touch with parents about the arrangements for any refund due once it has been possible to establish how this will work.

This is the right thing to do, and it's essential that KCC supports parents at this time. At the same time, it is a relatively small example of the much greater financial pressures that face local government during this crisis, with income being foregone (as in this case) and expenditure in areas such as social care under upward pressure - something that I, and my counterparts elsewhere in the sector, continue to emphasise to ministers. 

On-demand bus services for Sevenoaks

Bus operator Go Coach, working with Kent County Council, will be replacing many of its services in and around Sevenoaks (including the villages of Sevenoaks North and Darent Valley) with an on-demand service. The services involved will be the 1,2,3,4,5,6 and 8. The new service, branded as go2, will operate on a three month trial.

Go had already worked on some schemes for 'demand responsive' bus services with KCC, including plans to address the replacement for the 421 in the heart of Shoreham village. The collapse in demand for bus journeys as a result of the Covid-19 crisis has accelerated the search for new approaches and new solutions. KCC worked with Go Coach and its delivery partner ViaVan to develop the scheme and has given it some start up financial support.

go2 will cover the whole of Sevenoaks District, as well as journeys to NHS centres such as Pembury hospital. Booking will be via an app, which will also enable users to track the bus's movements to assess arrival times. The service will be available from 6am to 6pm Monday to Saturday and starts on 14 April. You can find a KCC media statement about the initiative here.

Go Coach are to be congratulated on an innovative and imaginative response to current circumstances, which can offer real benefits to Sevenoaks residents.

A small step regarding the 421

The Go Coach 421 service to Sevenoaks was withdrawn from coming in to Shoreham late last year, following difficulties in access for buses and concerns on the part of the company about limited use of the service from the village. The nearest bus pickup was now on the A225, a cause of difficulty and concern to older village residents in particular.

Various attempts have been made to resolve the problem, and this week Go introduced a once a week shopping service, leaving the village just after 10am and returning shortly after 1230. Kent Highways officers have also sought to make residents aware of the Kent Karrier service, which can provide a cost effective alternative. In the longer term, the aim is to develop an on demand service, rather on the model of some of the Big Conversation options. These were explored as an alternative at the time of the service withdrawal, but it was not feasible at that point. The work for a longer term solution, hopefully to be in place by the early summer, continues.

Taxi bus service to start on Monday

Following KCC's Big Conversation on support for rural public transport, the first of the resulting pilot schemes to get under way starts running on Monday, and it's in part of the Darent Valley.

The Sevenoaks taxi bus will run from Fairseat and Stansted to West Kingsdown, then into East Hill, down into Otford (by the station) and finally to Sevenoaks (bus station). It will run off peak, Mondays to Fridays, with set stops but also a hail and ride facility in more rural areas such as East Hill.

The taxi bus model uses a smaller vehicle suitable to the patronage expected in this area. Concessionary Travel passes are accepted (though a voluntary contribution of £1 may be made); other fares will be £3 for a single journey, £5 for a return (and £1 for a child). The service is run by Express Cabs and Couriers, in partnership with Kent County Council.

Other pilot schemes in Tenterden and Sandwich will be getting under way in the next few weeks. The latest on the rural transport initiatives, including details and timetable for the Sevenoaks pilot, can be found on the Kent County Council website.