A partnership between councils, a local college and businesses has funded the new 90 bus service to offer passengers a direct route to work and college.
Nottinghamshire County Council, Derbyshire County Council, West Notts College and Glenair have worked together to extend the bus service, operated by trentbarton, so that it now serves the Ashfield and Mansfield-based college as well as Oakham Business Park.
Other partners from Ashfield District Council and Mansfield District Council have also been involved.
Councillor Neil Clarke MBE, Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment at Nottinghamshire County Council, said: “It’s fantastic to have this vital bus service in place. It not only helps local residents get to their place of work or education, it also helps benefit the local economy.
“We’ve worked hard with partners at Ashfield, Mansfield and Derbyshire to get this service in place for local businesses and West Notts College, and we hope patronage continues to grow. We want to see more people use the bus to help tackle traffic congestion, reduce CO2 emissions and improve local air quality.
“With the extension of the Government’s £2 bus fare, travelling by bus is now more affordable so users of the service are getting the best value for money.”
John Bennett, Executive Director for Place at Ashfield District Council said: “I understand the need for great quality public transport as giving people an affordable way of getting to jobs and accessing education is vital to regenerating an area.
“Such a strong uptake of the new number 90 service shows the need for this. This shows what great partnership working can bring about and I am delighted with the part we played in this.”
Councillor Stuart Richardson, Portfolio Holder for Mansfield District Council, said: “This is a very welcome addition to the public transport provision in Mansfield and will make attending college and getting to work so much simpler and cheaper for hundreds of people every day.
“Anything that helps encourage people away from using their cars and reducing traffic and pollution in our district has to be a good move and one we fully support.”
Buses service the route hourly from morning to early evening, so are beneficial for staff at the Oakham Business Park.
Louise, who works at Glenair on Oakham business park, said: “The timetable is really good and is good value for money at £2.00 each way. If this service was not running, I would have to catch a bus into Mansfield and then a second bus to here (work). This would double my cost of travel. Other than that, it would be a taxi every day.”
Members of the public wanting to use the 90 service can pay using trentbarton’s dedicated app, by contactless or cash and thanks to trenbarton’s involvement with the Government funded fare cap scheme, a single journey only costs £2. You can find out more about the 90 service on our dedicated webpage https://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/transport/travel-notts/travelling-by-bus/oakham-business-park.