Landlords in rural pubs across South Yorkshire are encouraging customers to use YourNextBus - a text message service which says when the next bus is coming in real time.
Quirky animal beer mats explaining how to use the service have been distributed to numerous pubs across the county and posters are being put up behind the bar to tell customers the number of their nearest bus stop.
The system works by using sophisticated satellite technology to track each bus journey.
Jenny Mouncey, landlady at the Strafford Arms in Barnsley said: “It is a great idea especially in rural areas where buses don’t run as frequent as in town centres. Knowing exactly when your bus will arrive gives customers the opportunity to stay and enjoy their drink and chat to friends rather than waiting outside in the cold.”
YourNextBus is run by South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE) – a member of the Travel South Yorkshire Partnership - and was introduced to give customers more flexibility on how they receive bus time information.
Information is available via text message, the internet – travelsouthyorkshire.com, through WAP and interactive digital TV. There are also currently 50 on street YourNextBus displays at bus stops and another 100 will be rolled out across South over the next year.
To use the text service, all passengers have to do is text their bus stop number to 64422 and a message will be sent directly to their mobile phone saying what time their bus will arrive and if it is low-floored.
All of South Yorkshire’s 8,000 bus stops have individual 8-digit numbers starting with the code 370.
David Brown, Director General, at SYPTE said: “Waiting at the bus stop is one of the major issues that frustrate passengers so with this system, people can track the progress of their bus, find out when it is due to arrive then turn up without having to waste too much time at the stop. It is a quick and easy way to find out bus times.”
The YourNextBus service has been running across Yorkshire since 2006 and has grown in popularity every month. Last month over 36,000 customers used the text service and over 13,000 people used the website to find out bus times.
Providing real-time information for passengers is just one of the benefits of YourNextBus. The system also enables bus operators to improve scheduling, reliability, information provision and data analysis. It also allows them to monitor the position of their vehicles, see the effects of traffic problems and try to improve journey times.
The YourNextBus project is a joint venture between South and West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executives, and is one of the largest systems of its kind in Europe. The Department for Transport contributed £2.5 million towards the cost of the project.
If you are a landlord or landlady and would like to know more about the YourNextBus beer mats please call Julia Price on 0114 221 1413.