New details have emerged of an £80,000 council-funded scheme, which will help serve the transport needs of two Aberdeen communities who have been “cut off” from the rest of the city.
Following changes to bus services by First Bus and Stagecoach in recent years, residents living in the Airyhall and Cragiebuckler areas have had reduced access to reliable public transport.
But now, following the most recent Aberdeen City Council budget, £80,000 will be spent from the local authority’s coffers to improve services in the area.
A total of £35,000 will be invested on a new evening service to the communities, and £45,000 will be spent on a shuttle bus, supporting those people wishing to visit the shops and supermarkets in Mannofield and Garthdee.
The shuttle bus has been earmarked to operate around four times a day between 10am and 4pm, and a new evening service has been scheduled to run between 7.30pm and midnight.
Hazlehead councillor Ross Thomson, who has previously arranged meetings between residents and transport chiefs, said the new services would be hugely beneficial for residents, particularly pensioners and the disabled.
Mr Thomson said: “It’s going to be subsidised by the council with council funds, but it will be run by whoever puts in a successful bid.
“What the bus companies said was that it wasn’t profitable to run the evening services, but there is a social need for people who require it, so the council is putting in the funds to ensure a service can be run.
“And the shuttle bus service will really help those picking up prescriptions and getting messages. I know of one guy who is disabled from Braeside who used to get the bus to the shops in Mannofield.
“But he has recently been forced to take a taxi each way, so this service will be great for him.
“A lot of people really cut off, so there is a clear social need for the council to step in and do something, and I hope this will help address that.”
It is understood the services could begin as early as May.