Revenue and passenger numbers increased in the first months of dial-a-ride operations - although apparently have since dipped.

But Bus Vannin says the demand-responsive service should not be judged on financial performance alone as it also provides social benefits to rural communities.

And it pointed out that much of the fall-off in passenger numbers from September to November is the result of children moving to new schools.

ConnectVillages was introduced on a 12-month trial from December last year to serve the northern villages of Bride, Jurby and Andreas, replacing a number of scheduled bus services.

Bus Vannin has applied to the Road Transport Licensing Committee for a regular licence to continue operating dial-a-ride in the north of the island.

Isle of Man Newspapers submitted a Freedom of Information request to the Department of Infrastructure seeking data comparing the performance of dial-a-ride with the services it replaced.

The figures released by Bus Vannin show that in November 2019, the minibuses carried 1,641 passengers on 390 trips to the northern villages, Maughold and local Ramsey runs.

In November 2018, before dial-a-ride began, Citaro single deckers and double deckers on services 16 to 20 carried a total of 1,166 passengers.

Fuel consumption for a Citaro is about 8mpg compared with 20mpg for a Sprinter minibus, and Bus Vannin reckons dial-a-ride saves around 54 hours a week with consequent reduction in staff and mileage costs.

Total passengers numbers rose from 394 when the minibus services began to 1,722 in August and then peaking at 1,821 in October. Income from fares, similarly, rose from just £268 in December 2018 to peak at £1,104 in August.

The FoI response also includes a table comparing passengers numbers and revenue on the old routes 16 to 20 since dial-a-ride started.

It shows that between December 2017 and December 2018, passengers increased by 10.79% to 7,362 and revenue rose by 3.02% to £2,725.40.

By August, passengers numbers had increased by 10.86% to 4,574 but revenue was down slightly by 0.5% to £3,353.70. And in November passenger and revenue were both down, by 9.99% to 8,398 and 19.34% to £2,231.60 respectively.

But Bus Vannin said that the September-November figures are affected each year by the annual movement of children to new schools.

And it added: ’Whilst the data is provided as requested, the department does not believe that the comparison should be made on a solely financial basis. The ConnectVillages service collects passengers from any safe place of their choosing and was always intended to promote social inclusion and to secure the wider societal benefits that result.

Demand responsive

’The service has been welcomed by those with mobility problems and those without private transport who did not live along a bus route.’

It said the service also replaces some journeys that were previously provided by dedicated transport for individual service users. ’The northern parishes are provided both conventional and demand responsive services to meet the overall needs of the community as far as is possible at a time of falling taxpayer subsidy,’ it added.

A number of extra scheduled services on routes 16 to 20 have subsequently been reintroduced.

Bus Vannin operates a fleet of 67 minibuses of varying ages and manufacturers. Drivers are paid £11.21 or £11.10 an hour, including rolled up holiday pay, depending on their start date. Eight Sprinters were bought in 2018-19 at a cost of £345,528 on top of the 12 acquired in 2017-18 at a total of £732,516.