Clare Bus is a not-for-profit local transport company that has provided public bus services for Clare and parts of South Galway in the Republic of Ireland since 2003. It operates low floor, easy access buses on twelve flexibly routed services under the National Transport Authority’s (NTA) Local Link programme.

All these services were put out to tender in November 2019, with the new arrangements to come into effect in the week commencing 13 January 2020. In view of the short period available for the completion of the bid documentation and the fact that retaining at least the majority of the operation was vital to the continuing viability of the company, Clare Bus approached TAS to provide support and advice on the content of their responses. TAS helped Clare Bus to provide:

• Methodology for transporting passengers including those with restricted or impaired mobility and evidence of how such an approach would be successful;
• Understanding of the challenges of operating in a rural environment and how these would be addressed; and
• Proposals for development and promotion of the services, with past supporting cases in point.

On 13 December, the NTA advised Clare Bus that they had been successful in retaining all their current operations thus ensuring that the company and their 25 employees can continue to deliver the community based and accessible services that have been enjoyed by their passengers (totalling more than 55,000 in 2018) in the past 16 years.

Clare Bus expressed their fulsome thanks to TAS for our help and guidance in securing this successful outcome.

Click here to view a link on the accessible nature of Clare Bus journeys.

For more information and if you would like similar support or support with any aspect of your transport networks, please contact Sarah Huntley on 01772 204988.