RURAL bus services hould be replaced by subsidised shared taxis, says the government's transport advisor.

• £25m fund to improve bus services
• Forum: Best practice on rural transport

The Commission for Integrated Transport (CfIT) said shared taxi services could transform rural transport and address a worrying trend in social exclusion.

Rural bus provision has declined over the past 20 years as bus operators focus on more lucrative urban markets.

The situation has been compounded by the move away from local service provision - the closure of post offices, shops and garages - resulting in poor access to many facilities for England's 9.5 million rural people.

Following considerably research, the commission is calling for a large scale, long-term pilot to assess the benefits of shared taxi schemes.

Its findings were published as A New Approach to Rural Public Transport.

Dr Lynn Sloman, who chairs the commission's working group, said rural communities faced difficulties.

"Dispersed, small populations are hard to serve using conventional buses, and in many rural areas bus services are infrequent, stop early in the day, and don't run at all at weekends.

"Not surprisingly, people feel they can't rely on public transport and instead use private cars. But the evidence shows that this leads to real hardship, with low-income households forced into car ownership when they cannot really afford it.

"What we want to see is more flexible public transport services that can link people back into local facilities and core bus and rail networks."

Research by Mott MacDonald on behalf the commission assessed shared taxi schemes, known as "TaxiPlus" services, from across Europe and the UK.

TaxiPlus schemes operating on a large scale are particularly successful in the Netherlands and Switzerland where sophisticated journey matching software is used to match people's trips.

Because TaxiPlus services only run when requested, they are more cost-effective than conventional bus services in remote areas and at off-peak times.

This enables the provision of services seven days a week from early in the morning until late at night in places where a conventional bus service would be unviable.

Schemes in mainland Europe provided up to 50 times as many passenger trips as typical schemes in England, and achieved significant economies of scale.

On the back of these findings, the commission has now recommended a pilot TaxiPlus scheme, running at least at county level and over seven years.

It suggests offering subsidised, on-demand, door-to-door services linking to other transport modes with bookable services at off-peak times on core bus routes.

The pilot would evaluate how shared taxis could improve accessibility, raise social inclusion, and offer other social benefits.

It would also test potential to achieve modal shift away from the private car, bringing with it climate change benefits that would justify additional subsidy.

Although there are no insurmountable regulatory or legislative obstacles to the development of TaxiPlus schemes in the UK, the framework is complicated.

In the medium term, reforms to the licensing system for taxis and to the funding for public transport would help stimulate services in rural areas.

             See also:
                     • £25m fund to improve bus services (30 September 2008)
                     • Lack of transport 'blights young lives' (17 September 2008)
                     • Watchdog highlights transport challenge (15 August 2008)
                     • Soaring fuel costs hit rural bus operators (26 August 2008)
                     • Better transport 'vital for rural youngsters' (30 March 2008)
                     • Youngsters 'need free rural transport (30 November 2007)
                     • Rural buses put on endangered list (1 October 2007)
                     • Axe hangs over rural bus routes (24 September 2007)
                     • Record numbers use transport service (9 January 2008)
                     • Study examines rural public transport (19 October 2007)

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