Elderly people’s ability to use apps at centre of discussion as council approves new ride-booking system replacing some Milton Keynes buses

Milton Keynes Council has decided to press ahead with replacing some subsidised bus routes from next April with a system called demand responsive transport (DRT).

With DRT users have to either make a phone call to a call centre or book a ride on a phone app.

Cllr Allan Rankine (Cons, Bletchley Park) has his doubts about DRT which, at a meeting this week he called a “niche and not a long term solution.”

“DRT is fine for people like me who are retired and have time and ability to use the technology,” he told Tuesday’s delegated decisions meeting.

“I would definitely use it but it’s not really fine if you are 80, live in a council retirement bungalow, and rely on a bus to get to your weekly appointment.”

He continued: “Many old people do not know what an app is, far less know how to use one, and current users of buses may not even have a mobile phone.”

He also doubted whether people would want to search for a call centre number.

“DRT will create a new burden for families who have vulnerable relatives,” he said.

“Families will now need to step in to organise transport for relatives who previously managed their own arrangements.”

Cllr Rankine added that catching a bus is an “unthinking routine for most regular commuters but DRT requires thinking ahead and not everyone will be happy with that.”

But Cllr Robin Bradburn (Lib Dem, Bradwell) said: “Let’s not be too patronising to some of our elderly people.

“They will adapt and many, many people will.

“With help and assistance a DRT system will help people to get out of isolation and be able to get into society and enjoy life perhaps a little bit better.”

He claimed that when DRT was introduced to a town in the USA with hardly any mobile phones or credit cards its success was “quite phenomenal.”

He compared DRT with infrequent bus services which mean people “cannot get to appointments at all.”

Council cabinet member Cllr Lauren Townsend (Lab, Bletchley West) agreed to an action replay of a decision she made in September after the original one was called in by local Conservatives.

She said the council is “committed to an integrated public transport network” and thinks in some areas the service could be better than buses.

And she said it could cut the rising cost of public transport subsidies in half from £2.9 million.

Conservative group leader Cllr Alex Walker (Stantonbury) said he supported DRT but is concerned it is “based on cost cutting rather than making public transport better.”