Moray Council hosts presentation on possible solutions to Stagecoach transport gaps

Moray Council hosted a presentation on possible solutions to local transport gaps for concerned members of the community.

Head of the local authority’s ‘Bus Revolution’ project, Stevie Robertson, was invited by Sustainable Planet Projects to Auchernack House on High Street to follow-up a previous engagement day hosted by Caring Community Circle (CCC) at The Park Ecovillage, Findhorn.

CCC spokesperson Susie Kemp confirmed attendees were particularly interested to learn about how the gap left by Stagecoach’s withdrawal of services between Forres, Kinloss, and Findhorn will be closed.

She said: “Mr Robertson delivered a presentation about the history of the council’s transport unit.

“He explained that the m.connect service, part of the Bus Revolution initiative, focuses on improving public transport connectivity via on-demand and timetabled services. Key aspects include the introduction of apps for booking and journey management, and the use of electric vehicles to reduce carbon emissions.”

The previous meeting in Findhorn focused on operational plans and the funding required to support the second phase of Bus Revolution’s expansion.

Mr Robertson’s team presented findings based on annual surveys, community feedback and analysis of the current bus network and m.connect services. The board then agreed on the services to be introduced, submitted for approval to elected members.

The project proposed a timetabled service connecting Forres to Kinloss/Findhorn, extending to Burghead, and linking to a coastal service between Burghead and Lossiemouth.

However, the Forres service was omitted from the final plans for fear of setting an unsustainable president of providing a replacement service every time a commercial bus operator withdraws a service; and because the operational costs were deemed too expensive.

Moray Council is now seeking funding to provide a service either through m.connect or a community-led initiative.

Ms Kemp said: “Since then, Moray Council leader, Councillor Kathleen Robertson, has secured part of the funding required and hopes to find more in the near future.

“Mr Robertson is meeting with a community transport project about the possibility of extending their route to connect Findhorn and Kinloss to Forres.

“Due to regulation issues, any service, whether by community transport groups or the m.connect, would most likely not come into operation until next April.”

Mr Robertson explained that, while the m.connect app and telephone booking system has issues, the service is designed to improve over a 10-year period. m.connect helps the existing bus network by addressing gaps based on community feedback. The service is expected to evolve through engagement and six-month reviews to ensure it meets passenger needs.

m.connect has an on-demand service in the Forres area operating between 8am and 5pm, Mondays to Saturdays, and a timetabled 314 town service 4, operating Monday to Friday from 8.40am to 5.05pm, with 900-1000 monthly users.

There was discussion about how the 314 service could be extended, for example, between Forres train station and the town centre.

Mr Robertson wants the community to make any suggestions to Forres Community Council.

A further issue raised was difficulty in booking journeys. Mr Robertson explained that the project is in phase one, with Forres having only two buses for the on-demand service. He encouraged the community to keep booking as all requests are logged and help evidence un-met demand, which makes a compelling argument when designing and resourcing services in the future.

Mr Robertson highlighted how ride-sharing increased to 3.5 people per journey, above the standard 2.5, thanks to ongoing app optimisation.

He also spoke about passenger growth in this last year.

He added: “We are implementing interventions with the design team and account managers to optimise our capacity. We’ve made several algorithm tweaks, allowing us to accommodate as many journeys as possible. We've seen an increase in passenger numbers.

“By the end of March 2025, we expect to achieve approximately 74,000 passenger journeys in just the first two years of service.”

Mr Robertson stated, in its first year, m.connect has surpassed its investment objectives to date. The project aimed to increase public transport passenger journeys by 30,000 by 2030, and in its first year, it exceeded this target by 66 per cent, generating over 9000 additional journeys.

Due to the rebranding of the Dial M for Moray service to m.connect, the service is attracting a significant number of under-22s.

The service also achieved nearly triple the expected carbon savings, reducing CO2 emissions by 11.6 tonnes.

While the goal of reducing transport barriers by 20 per cent by 2030 is more complex to measure, Mr Robertson highlighted efforts through surveys, partnerships, and support for local events like the Speyside Whisky and Findhorn Bay Festivals, which m.connect plans to repeat.

To find out more visit http://www.moray.gov.uk/moray_standard/page_125954.html or search m.connect.