Bus services will continue to operate at reduced frequency until at least early next month due to a continuing shortage of drivers.
Bus Vannin has formally applied to the Road Transport Licensing Committee for approval for a reduced contingency service on many key routes.
There is also a slightly reduced frequency on these routes – 1, 2, 11 and 12 – on Saturday and Sunday mornings and earlier introduction of the 30-minute frequency in the early evenings.
Bus Vannin currently has a fleet of 90 buses and 90 minibuses.
But lack of availability of drivers has been causing major problems including during this year’s TT when no fewer than 177 buses were cancelled – despite the then Infrastructure Minister Tim Crookall claiming services that had run as normal. A Freedom of Information request from the Isle of Man Courier and Gef the Mongoose showed that claim was not correct.
Staff sickness, including from Covid as well as stress and injuries, has regularly left the bus operator nine to 12 drivers short.
Bus Vannin is also struggling to fill vacancies as a UK-wide driver shortage has made recruitment a challenge here too.
A revised bus timetable was brought in after TT.
In a written reply to a Tynwald question, Infrastructure Minister Chris Thomas said the current contingency timetable would operate until the end of the school summer holidays but the aim was to return to a ‘standard’ timetable by early September.
But Bus Vannin has applied to the RTLC for formal approval to vary its operator licence to operate the contingency service.
As well as the changes to the frequency of routes serving the south of the island, Mondays to Saturdays daytime services between Douglas and Peel have been reduced from every 20 minutes to every 30.
To compensate for the reduction in the number of buses serving Noble’s Hospital, daytime services on route 22H are reintroduced.
Service 13 between Douglas, Onchan and Groudle has been temporarily withdrawn and summer seasonal services on routes 4R, 8, 8R, 28 and N8 axed.
Buses operating between Douglas and Ramsey via Laxey now run every hour rather than every 30 minutes on Sundays.
A reduced contingency service has also been brought in on routes 21 serving Pulrose and Anagh Coar including a re-introduction of an hourly frequency instead of every 30 minutes.
In a further application, Bus Vannin is proposing that Ian Bates, current head of operations, is appointed as designated transport manager following the retirement of Ian Longworth.
The RTLC will hear the applications later this month or in September.