On-demand buses launch next month

9:00am - 17 March 2023
People using a mobile app to book buses

Innovative on-demand buses will soon be on their way to communities across North Somerset. 

The distinctive bright green 30-strong fleet of WESTlink minibuses will go where they’re needed throughout the area without a fixed timetable or route. 

Instead, an automated system will join-up people’s desired journey into one trip, to get passengers where they need to be as efficiently as possible.  

It will offer many people who are currently without a local service the chance to get back on the bus. 

Journeys could be to bus stops within the local area for shopping or entertainment, or to key bus and train locations for onward travel. 

The service launches on Monday 3 April and you’ll be able to book via an app, website or on the phone. 

Just put in your destination and the app will calculate where your nearest active bus stop is. ‘Virtual’ stops will also be available, which will be made clear when you book.  

Buses will run 7am to 7pm Monday to Saturday, with none on Sundays or bank holidays. 

It will initially cost £2 per adult, £1 per child, and concession and bus passes are accepted.  

The areas covered by the buses are separated into zones, with North Somerset having the largest area. 

It includes some of Weston-super-Mare, Nailsea, Clevedon, Portishead, Bristol Airport and Chew Valley. 

Buses play a vital role in our communities, providing essential links to help residents get to school and college, get to work to earn a living, attend medical appointments, shops, and general travel across the area. 

This new service won’t solve all our bus problems but will make a positive difference to those who need it most. 

Find out more and get the latest updates on the website.

Introducing WESTlink is part of our Bus Improvement Service Plan.  

We’ve worked with the West of England Combined Authority to bring it to our area, thanks to £6m of government funding from the Department of Transport.

the green WESTlink on-deman minibus
The new WESTlink minibus

Barrow Gurney improvement works start soon

The next major bus improvement scheme planned for North Somerset is set to begin in Barrow Gurney next month. 

The improvement works, part of our Bus Service Improvement Plan, will make bus travel faster, greener, more reliable, convenient, and co-ordinated across the region. 

The work starts in April and will include converting the left turn on the A38 to Barrow Gurney into a bus lane with a bus gate, and turning the nearside ahead-only lane into an ahead and left turn for all vehicles. 

For traffic heading to the airport, the nearside lane will be converted from an all-vehicle lane to a bus-only lane. 

There will also be some improvements to the footway, a number plate recognition camera introduced and bus priority traffic lights. 

These will reduce traffic pinch points by allowing buses straight through.

Work has already started on improvements to the Long Ashton bypass. 

The existing 2+ lane is being converted into a bus lane and extended to the Barrow Gurney roundabout towards Bristol. 

Litter picking, gully clearing, tree works and electrical maintenance is also happening at the same time. 

Following a successful bid to the Department for Transport, more than £105m funding has been allocated for bus improvements across the West of England, with £48m earmarked for capital improvements in North Somerset alone. 

Of this, £57.5m is being used as a pooled revenue fund with the West of England Combined Authority to enable delivery of the Bus Service Improvement Plan.