Patient as passenger?

14 January 2016

Interesting note from the Worthing and Adur public transport group. Patient transport services have been re-organised in Sussex.

As pressure mounts on local authority budgets there is much talk of ‘total’ transport – combining local authority and other budgets for school, patient and other forms of ‘public’ transport.

Interesting to see how this develops – tricky as most transportation still takes place at peak or near-peak times but combining the procurement of these services might produce some saving and better services.

We have some work coming out soon on local authority funded ‘demand responsive’ transport. It will be interesting to see what passengers make of these services. Do younger passengers perceive these services differently?

One thing is certain – the traditional dividing lines between public and other forms of transport are becoming blurred. Helping passengers to navigate in this new world is going to be important – what is available and at what price? Will concessions work on some forms of transport but not others?