Real-time app proposed to improve public transport

The county council will look at the recommendations

A number of recommendations have been made to improve buses services in Gloucestershire.

A report by the county council's scrutiny committee was written in response to poor services 18 months ago.

It proposed 16 different actions, including introducing a real-time transport app, finding out why people do not use buses and integrating all public transport.

Cabinet member for bus transport, Philip Robinson, said all of the recommendations are already happening or could be made to happen with relative ease.

In Autumn 2022 Stagecoach cut a number of routes in rural areas such as the Cotswolds and the Forest of Dean, with other operators and community buses - funded by the county council - replacing them.

Stagecoach West is Gloucestershire's largest operator with other community bus services also serving the county

Councillor Lisa Spivey said a multi-modal map - which has real time information on different public transport - could be put in place "relatively quickly" and would bring huge benefits and attract more people to use buses.

"We have a number of operators working within the county," she said.

"If we have got everything on an app and everything on a map you should be able to see when a bus is actually coming and how that interconnects with other services."

Councillors have said they would like to see a system where users are able to open an application and see the fastest way to get to their destination.

Councillor Philip Robinson has overseen the launch of community bus routes since the cuts

Frequency and reliability were highlighted in the report as two of the big barriers for bus travel.

It found that congestion is hampering how quickly services can get around, noting that the number 10 - which travels between Gloucester and Cheltenham - is 19% slower then it was 20 years ago.

"That was actually quite surprising to see that level of congestion," Mr Spivey said.

Mr Robinson said he would take away the recommendations for a "full and detailed look" over the coming weeks.

He added that since the report was commissioned the situation has improved with more funding.

"We now have 12 buses an hour going between Cheltenham and Gloucester," he said.

"That rosy picture seemed an awful long way off in those dark days."

Managing director of Stagecoach West, Rachel Geliamassi, welcomed the report.

She said they look forward to working with Gloucestershire County Council to "improve bus travel for all in the region".