On demand bus service to be expanded across Surrey

The Surrey Connect service is due to expand across the county

An on demand minibus service in Surrey is due to expand to cover more of the county.

Passengers can book the bus service through an app with as little as 30 minutes' notice on a first-come, first-served basis.

Surrey County Council first trialled the service in Mole Valley in June 2022, and from September plans to cover more areas.

The second phase of the network expansion will increase the number of minibuses from 12 to 28.

The council spent an estimated £1.2m on the service in 2023/24 and has budgeted £4.85m for 2024/25 which includes the roll out to new areas in its second phase.

It now runs in Cranleigh, Farnham, Longcross, Tandridge and West Guildford.

A further allocation of £3.15m could be spent in 2024/25 for a third phase of the scheme, which could include parts of Elmbridge, Reigate and Banstead, and Spelthorne.

Central Guildford, Epsom and Redhill will not be covered by the Surrey Connect service, as the council says there are parts of the county with "excellent local bus services" which are often commercially run.

The area covered by the service will expand to include more of Surrey

Council documents say the on demand service should not take away passengers and revenue from local bus services "so that they may continue to serve local communities".

While the service will cover more of the county, the council said each individual service "operates within a localised zone to ensure it remains agile to local residents needs".

A report said: "As such it is designed to complement other bus services and rail travel, rather than compete with them."