Somerset’s ‘tremendous’ Slinky service to benefit from six new minibuses
Council expands demand-responsive transport with seven new minibuses after 10,000 successful journeys
Somerset Council is to purchase seven new minibuses following the “tremendous success” of its Slinky service over the last 18 months.
The Slinky service provides digital demand-responsive transport, enabling residents to pre-book transport for shopping, medical appointments and other trips in areas which are not well-served by other public transport.
Since the revived ‘Digital Slinky’ service was introduced in May 2024, backed by central government, it has completed 10,000 journeys across the county.
The council is now using government grants to purchase six further wheelchair-accessible diesel minibuses, allowing the service to be expanded and allowing maintenance on the existing vehicles to be carried out with minimal disruption.
A seventh electric minibus will also be purchased using the same grant, and will be used to support the 30 bus service in Frome.
The new diesel minibuses (each of which have 16 seats) will primarily serve communities in Taunton, Wellington and the former Sedgemoor area, which includes Bridgwater, Burnham-on-Sea, Cheddar, Highbridge and North Petherton.
The council has not confirmed how much the new vehicles will cost, but said that the entire cost would be funded through grants from the Department for Transport (DfT) rather than local taxpayers.
Lee Jones, the council’s service manager for transport operations, said: “A prior trial in the Somerton area of the Digital Slinky upgrade has proved to be a
tremendous success since its launch.
“The new minibuses are configured to enable seats to be folded up when the space is required for wheelchair passengers.
“Using vehicles of this configuration enables the team to respond to wheelchair bookings in the same way as any other booking taken up to one hour before travel.
“Driver would otherwise have to return to the depot and remove seating, which could potentially result in time delays and bookings not being accepted for wheelchair passengers at short notice, putting these passengers at a disadvantage.
“Furthermore, the arrival of these seven new vehicles will enhance service delivery due to time off-road for repairs and maintenance.”
The Digital Slinky service forms part of the council’s bus service improvement plan (BSIP), which seeks to improve Somerset’s bus services through a mixture of capital projects (such as the upcoming delivery of Taunton’s new transport hub) and revenue spending (such as keeping the cost of the Taunton park and ride down to encourage greater passenger numbers).
Councillor Richard Wilkins, portfolio holder for transport and waste services, stated: “Demand responsive transport is essential in a rural county like Somerset, and the fantastic success of the service so far is proof that we are providing a lifeline to local people who don’t always have easy access to a bus route or car.
“The work of the team in Somerton and Langport has been phenomenal and I congratulate them on what is a landmark achievement.
“Digital Slinky is a great alternative, reliable, affordable and easy to book. Anyone can use it.”