JustGo North Lincs increases capacity
JustGo North Lincs, the demand-responsive transport (DRT) service connecting communities across North Lincolnshire, has added an extra bus to its fleet to increase capacity as Covid-19 restrictions ease.
The on-demand service, operated by the Go-Ahead Group subsidiary East Yorkshire, in partnership with North Lincolnshire Council and technology provider Liftango, launched in September 2020.
To meet the increased demand seen since schools and colleges returned, and the expected increase with the opening of non-essential retail and outdoor hospitality, an extra bus has started operating, taking the total number of vehicles used to seven.
“Adding an extra bus will allow more people to travel for work, school, shopping and leisure, helping kick-start the region’s post-Covid recovery” – Ben Gilligan, East Yorkshire’s Area Director
Ben Gilligan, East Yorkshire’s Area Director, said: “We are delighted with how popular JustGo has been since it started in September, and are looking forward to carrying even more people over the months to come.
“Adding an extra bus will allow more people to travel for work, school, shopping and leisure, helping kick-start the region’s post-Covid recovery.”
The extra vehicle is another part of a range of improvements which have been rolled out in the last sixth months, aiming to enhance the customer experience even further and offering better integration with the wider transport network.
Liftango is the company behind the app, booking and operations platforms. As well as 24-hour booking, live bus tracking and updates about the passenger’s journey, the JustGo North Lincs app now lets users know where regular bus services would be more suited for their journey, taking them to the relevant operator’s website for timetable and ticketing information. This alleviates capacity for those travelling where a regular bus service is not an option.
Ben Gilligan continued: “We’ve been impressed by how Liftango has responded to the challenges of modifying service to meet the needs of a country in and out of lockdown. We’ve been able to provide much needed transport for essential workers as well as members of the public travelling to vaccination centres for their jab.”
JustGo uses a fleet of minibuses offering free wi-fi, USB charging ports and luxury seating.
Running Monday-Friday 7am to 7pm and 8am to 6pm on Saturdays, buses can be booked at any time via the JustGo North Lincs app, then tracked in real-time to the chosen pick-up point. Passengers can also book via a phone call. The service operates across North Lincolnshire where there are no existing regular bus services.