Wightbus
Wightbus was a bus operator on the Isle of Wight, established and owned by the Isle of Wight County Council. It operated a network of thirteen local bus services running across the island, mostly services which would not have been viable for the island's dominant commercial operator, Southern Vectis, to operate.
Founded | 1970 |
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Defunct | 2 September 2011 |
Headquarters | Newport |
Service area | Isle of Wight |
Service type | School and public services on the Isle of Wight |
Destinations | Whole of the Isle of Wight |
Fleet | 27 |
Website | Wightbus homepage |
Wightbus also provided school buses, and transported disabled adults to various day care centres on behalf of the council's social services department. A dial-a-bus service was run over some parts of the island to residents who would be unable to leave their homes to catch a regular service bus.
The Wightbus fleet was made up of 27 vehicles with capacities ranging from 16 to 72. Around 40 trained drivers and passenger-escort staff were employed. Over 1 million passengers travelled on Wightbus services annually.
Wightbus was axed by the new unitary Isle of Wight Council in February 2011, with the last services operating on 2 September 2011. Under a new "Community Bus Partnership", Southern Vectis agreed to take on a number of routes previously operated by Wightbus to rural areas of the island in co-ordination with the Isle of Wight Council and the town and parish councils which the services run in. The services are all run by volunteer drivers.