PhoenixCommunity Transport
A proposal, not yet a service. No Phoenix bus runs yet. The route and times below are a draft, and we are gathering support, volunteers and funding.

How it would work

A community bus, run as a not-for-profit

Phoenix would be set up as a Community Interest Company registered with Companies House. A CIC has to use its assets and any surplus for the community it serves, so money from fares goes back into keeping the bus running.

It would operate under a Section 22 community bus permit (Transport Act 1985), issued by the Traffic Commissioner. That lets a not-for-profit run a registered local bus service open to everyone, with the route, stops and timetable registered in the usual way.

Fares and bus passes

Passengers without a pass would pay a cash fare. Holders of an English National Concessionary Travel Scheme bus pass would travel under the national scheme, with the operator reimbursed in the normal way.

Drivers

The plan is to start with volunteer drivers and add paid, professionally licensed drivers as income allows. Drivers need the right licence entitlement for the vehicle used; many people who passed their car test before 1997 already hold a minibus (D1) entitlement. If you're interested, get in touch and we'll help check what your licence covers.

The bus

The proposal is for a heritage single-decker in a distinctive community livery, adapted with a rear wheelchair lift and space for mobility aids, pushchairs and shopping — a bus the villages will recognise as their own.

It is planned to run on waste cooking oil collected from local pubs and restaurants and filtered for use. The carbon released when that oil burns was taken from the air by the crops that produced it, so its lifecycle emissions are far lower than fossil diesel's.

Paying for it

Running costs would be met from fares, bus-pass reimbursement and grants, with the possibility of a small contribution from the parish councils served, to give the service a secure base. Detailed figures will be published once they have been checked.

Keeping it safe and legal

The vehicle would have regular preventive maintenance inspections and an annual MOT, and the service would meet the conditions of its permit and registration.