Roland Perry writes:

In message , at
11:41:46 on Thu, 21 Feb 2019, David Cantrell
remarked:

https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/bus...ive-bus-trial/

It seems like an idea that is definitely worth trying, a sort of half
way house between normal buses and taxis. If it was available in any
part of London that I ever visit I'd give it a go.

It's a perennial item. One operator (I forget which) had a trial in
London about 8-10yrs ago, which presumably flopped.

On the other hand, several USA cities have had such services (mainly
aimed at the airport run) for a generation.

What I'm not sure about in this Sutton trial is whether both ends of
people's trips have to be within the mapped area, which is really
quite small. Or do they just have to live there, with routes extending
into other boroughs.

The Oxford “PickMeUp” service, briefly mentioned in the TfL report, has
been going for some time, and the little busses have become quite
familiar. I haven’t tried it yet though—mainly because I already pay for
a card that gives me unlimited travel on the conventional bus network,
so I’d be paying again, in effect. I guess as it says in the TfL report:

The key target markets for the service are those who usually use their
car and who are not, for various reasons, using conventional public
transport, walking or cycling.
--
Ian ◎