Toulouse, France--Maintaining cost-efficient service all day long on a bus line that gets most of its use during just a few hours is a problem faced by operators in many countries.
SEMVAT, the transit authority in Toulouse, recently came up with an innovative solution for its Line 53. The line serves two small communities in the distant suburbs and is used mainly by students on their way to and from school, as well as by shoppers along a short segment of the line.
By agreement with the two townships (Aureville and Lacroix-Falgarde), SEMVAT entered into a trial arrangement with a local taxi firm that has placed an eight-seater "taxi bus" marked "Line 53" into service during an agreed number of hours when the full-size bus gets just a few passengers. The "taxi bus" prominently displays the operator's phone number.
Passengers rendezvous with the "taxi bus" at a specified bus stop at a specified time. The time has to be one of the scheduled stops on the timetable that is displayed on each bus stop along the line, and there is no additional charge for the service for monthly pass holders. Single fares are charged the cost of a two zone ticket. The driver lets his passenger(s) off at any stop along the line, or at a transfer stop that connects with a downtown line.
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