Glenfarg Community Transport Group keeps motoring on
A local bus service in Perthshire which was cancelled after the transport operators retired, has been resurrected by a local community group.
This is thanks to funding from Perth and Kinross Council and, among others, the Binn Wind Turbine Community Benefit Fund. The latter is administered by Foundation Scotland.
Faced with losing the bus service all together, which would have left residents stuck for access to work, shopping or social activities, local residents of the village came together and decided to take on the service themselves. The volunteers recruited three full-time drivers, and the Glenfarg Community Transport Group says the new and improved bus service is proving to be more popular than ever. The route, which runs from Glenfarg to Kinross, now services about 300 passenger journeys per week, an increase of 200 on last year.
Funding for the service comes largely from Perth and Kinross Council, with additional backers including the Smarter Choices Smarter Places charity fund. Funding from the Binn Wind Turbine Community Benefit Fund was used to buy one of the vehicles.
The story has been featured on the BBC website and in the Guardian, who spoke with local residents.
Glenfarg Community Transport Group chairman Drew Smart said: "It's not about buses, it's really about people. We've got a few people, because of mobility issues, we don't expect them to come to the bus stop, we'll come into the village and pick them up at the door. When we get into Kinross we'll drop them at the door of where they're going. The drivers are brilliant, they go well above and beyond."
David Keith, one of the full-time drivers, said the passenger numbers have "blown expectations out of the water."
He said: "We have our regulars, but we see more and more people coming on who have never used the service before. I love coming into my work and meeting the people, numerous people in the village say it's transformed their lives."
Meanwhile, other villages are looking to the group for advice on how to start their own local service. Local community transport has long been an issue for those living in rural areas, so Glenfarg Community Transport Group are providing an interesting alternative - transport that is owned and run by the community itself.