Three MCA members, a dog and a beaver went to Ashbourne recently to talk to Ashbourne Community Transport, who run the vital Moorlands Connect service. The aim was to help plan their next publicity campaign. User numbers for the service are on the up, but we need more people to get on the bus to ensure its long-term future.
Last October, the County Council gave Moorlands Connect funding for the next two years, with an option to extend. It was good to see a county officer at the meeting to lend their weight to the new campaign.
Operating an on-demand service, which allows people to request bespoke journeys, brings different challenges than running a scheduled bus with fixed times and set stops. Accordingly, the priority over the next two years will be not just bringing more of the same type of user onto the bus but attracting new groups to help balance the flow during the day.
Moorlands Connect provides a vital transport option for school and college students who represent the majority of bookings twice a day but this does not always exclude other users especially those who travel to work.
The new campaign will focus on midday travel to ensure a good flow of users and is ideal for holiday makers and visitors allowing them to visit a range of attractions and venues without a car. This should not only improve the visitor experience but help local businesses and our beautiful environment by reducing the number of cars using our roads.
Moorlands Connect already publicises its service with campsites and holiday parks but, via MCA and the District Council, we now aim to link them up to a wider range of accommodation providers, events and tourist bodies. While it’s always hard to tempt people out of their cars, there is a wide range of potential users, including walkers, pub-goers and family groups.
The summer Sunday service starts again in April and Moorlands Connect provides much cheaper ticketing for group travel (one person pays the full fare and the rest £1 each). The App has been markedly improved, making it the better option for getting the booking of choice and more people now use the App than phone to book services. It can be easily accessed by following the link above or going to the How to Use page on the Moorlands Connect website.
Moorlands Connect also aims to provide better interchange with other bus services in the Derbyshire part of the Peak District. The new buses now running are much better suited to the narrow twisty roads of the Moorlands. They can and do take wheelchairs, although sadly no bikes, except for folders at the driver’s discretion.
The new buses are white and don’t have the distinctive identity of the old green ones, so a key aim will be to reinforce the Moorlands Connect brand. This new campaign may involve ‘Connie’ the six-feet high illuminated curlew that proved such a hit at the MCA Wassail figure. Watch this space.