Replacing scheduled buses with dial-a-ride on some rural routes could save £15,000 a year.

Public transport bosses insist there are no plans to cut driver numbers.

Details of possible savings emerged during a Road Transport Licensing Committee hearing when approval was given to reduce regular scheduled services to Jurby.

Their replacement with dial-a-ride minibuses, which have to be booked the day before, has prompted criticism that Jurby will be left further isolated.

But Bus Vannin says the ConnectVillages minibuses are proving popular since their introduction in Andreas and Bride and there are plans to roll them out to other parts of the island.

During the RTLC hearing, it was claimed that removing big buses from routes with historically low passenger numbers could make a saving of around £15,000. It’s part of plans to reduce the public transport budget by £1m over three years.

Bus drivers on old terms get a salary of about £28,000 but may expect to increase this to £35,000 by working weekends and public holidays at a higher hourly rate.

But drivers of dial-a-ride minibuses are on zero hours contracts, working flexible shifts with an hourly rate, which works out at about £20,000 a year on a 37-hour week.

In a statement, the Department of Infrastructure said: ’Public Transport does not plan to make any reduction in driver numbers due to the introduction of demand responsive transport.

’Although some routes have been replaced with minibuses operating on demand from customers, drivers have been redeployed to work on timetabled routes in other parts of the island.

schedule

’For example, the route between Douglas and the south has recently increased in frequency from every 20 minutes to every 15 minutes and requires more drivers per day to fulfil that schedule.

’Savings have been identified as there is a variance in contracted hourly rates across staffing grades, in addition to lower running costs in terms of fuel and tyres.

’More importantly, however, a targeted use of resources through transporting people on demand is forecast to lead to a rise in revenue through increased use.’

The DoI said that since ConnectVillages was launched in November, more than 2,500 passenger journeys have been taken, including a 23% rise in use across the north between January and March.

It said this trend has already started to emerge in Ramsey since the new timetable introduced on April 22 replaced services CL and OT with on-demand minibuses within the town.

Bus Vannin’s application to reduce scheduled bus services to Jurby was approved by the RTLC on April 15. Five out of the 12 scheduled weekday, and nine out of 15 on Saturdays, have been lost.