A worldwide first in transport is to be piloted in Bradley Stoke this Thursday (1st November 2012).
‘Buxi‘ combines the cost and environmental efficiencies of buses with the convenience of taxis.
Passengers order the service online and the vehicles collect them from close to home and take them to their destination, collecting and delivering other passengers on the way. The journeys are both personalised and shared.
The service is being offered to Bradley Stoke residents who work in Filton, in collaboration with major employers in the area, including Airbus and NHSBT. It is hoped that a weekday commuter service will begin in the New Year.
Buxi is the brainchild of David Stewart, a mathematician and engineer who came up with the idea when be got fed up of seeing empty buses. “They’re an environmental disaster,” he says. The idea is to encourage more people to use shared transport by using location technology to provide higher level of service than buses at a fraction of the cost of taxis.
The project has received funding from the Technology Strategy Board and was recently announced a winner of The LowCVP Challenge, a nationwide competition for innovations that reduce carbon output.
Photo: Traffic on the A38 Flyover near the Bristol Mail Centre in Filton.
I live in Bradley Stoke and work in Filton, though not for NHSBT or Airbus. How can I be involved with the pilot?
Thats odd. This service was advertised at work and i asked to try the trial but had an email today saying it was oversubscribed and i am outside the area now?
Hello,
Andy, I’m sorry that the buxi one-day test run is only in cooperation with participating employers. To register your interest please fill in the form on http://buxi.co.uk/when/ letting us know who you work for in the Comments box, and we’ll keep you informed about developments in the service.
K Obrien, our apologies that we weren’t able to include you in the test-run. We hope that you will still consider using the service in the future.
If you haven’t already, please fill in the questionnaire at the end of the email we sent you. What you want from the service is still very important to us.
Liz Davidson, buxi
I’ve heard it all now. Now you can call me cynical if you want but I cannot see how this system can work. I am no fan of the public transport system in BS but at least you know where it will be, where it is going and approximately what time it will be there.
From reading the buxi website it appears somewhat random and haphazard in that you don’t know where in the “queue” you will be and how long it will take you go get to work and how many stops you will have to make.
There is also the fact that the cost of the system to the individual is not disclosed…
I may be old fasioned but I will continue to use my car to commute into Bristol every day, it’s reliable, cheap and i can use it how and when i want without having to stop for other people.
It’s easy to miss a bus and have to wait for the next one, that’s never happened with my car.
Also, just in case anyone thinks that i have a giant gas guzzling BMW, Merc or 4×4, I don’t. I have a Toyota Yaris.