"Some Buses Are Driven By Volunteers"

[dmacw]

Just flicking through the timetable to Southern Vectis (Isle Of Wight) and next to timetable 6. (Newport to Ventor via Blackgang Chine) It says 'some buses on route 6 are driven by volunteers'. This is under their 'Community Bus Partnership'. I can only presume this is down to low passenger numbers, and the cost of a driver wouldn't make it worthwhile.

Is this normal and does it happen anywhere else?

 

[trentside]

I understand this is something inherited from the Wight Bus (council owned) operation that Southern Vectis acquired earlier in the year.

I believe it is done to reduce overheads on marginal services. This is certainly something used by community bus services elsewhere, but not something I've come across on normal bus services before.

 

[shinkansen1966]

A few weeks ago, I took the Southern Vectis bus 6 from Ventnor to Newport. The driver appeared to be in an SV uniform. And the service has at least been restored to an hourly frequency with some services running on the Undercliffe route via St Lawrence.

To allow buses to run this narrower Undercliffe route, double deckers have been replaced by shorter single deckers.

 

[Deerfold]

The Whitbread Wanderbuses are driven by volunteers in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire. They're quite low frequency with one route being probably the lowest frequency in the country.

http://www.sheffordtown.co.uk/wanderbus-tt.html

 

[stut]

There's a similar venture in another part of Beds, the Ivel Sprinter. I keep meaning to take a trip up to Cambridge in one of these, but always forget...