Oxfordshire buses: DRT service for villages scrapped

Oxfordshire County Council has proposed cutting the hourly 250 bus

Andrew Burgess 250 bus service in Kirtlington — Oxfordshire County Council has proposed cutting the hourly 250 bus

Campaigners have welcomed the decision not to replace a village bus service with a bookable alternative.

Oxfordshire County Council proposed cutting its hourly 250 bus and replacing travel to and from Oxford with Demand Responsive Transport (DRT).

However, it has now proposed to split the route into two separate services after the plans fell through.

Kirtlington resident Nick Woods said villagers would still fight to retain the 250.

The 250 bus travels to and from Bicester and the centre of Oxford, taking in villages such as Middleton Stoney, Lower Heyford, Kirtlington, Bletchingdon, and Hampton Poyle.

It is paid for by contributions from Dorchester Living, which is developing at nearby Heyford Park, but the subsidy is set to expire.

The council said the 250 is covering less than 50% of the costs it takes to run it.

Petition

From February a new service would cover the southern part of the route every two hours, while also providing new services for Wendlebury and Weston-on-the-Green.

A second service from Lower Heyford for the rest of the route would mean residents needing to travel to Oxford would go via public transport from Bicester.

The council secured funding through the government's Government's national bus strategy for DRT, which is bookable via phone, app, or website.

But it said it was "no longer pursuing" it after the "current operator withdrew from a tender process designed to give the council enough time to develop it".

More than 1,700 people have signed an online petition to keep the 250.

Mr Woods, 68, told the BBC: "We obviously appreciate the move away from the Direct Response Transport system and hope this will eventually lead to the retaining of the 250 bus."

"As a regular passenger, virtually daily, I am in contact with the people who use the bus and this is where our force comes from, the actual passengers who use it.

"We feel this is a step in the right direction, and that we have made an impact and given a voice for the ordinary passenger."

Dorchester Living told the BBC it was still making financial contributions to a half hourly service to Bicester, as well as towards "enhanced cycle routes and footpaths" and "other highway improvements".