Alongside our County and District councillors, we have been working with the Greater Cambridge Combined Authority to put in place a replacement for the 125 bus service which has been withdrawn. We have hopefully found a solution which will provide an equivalent service to previous one.
The Thursday bus service will now be provided by a Tiger on Demand vehicle operating within the existing Tiger on Demand service, rather than as a fixed-route bus. As such, passengers will not see the 125 (or any other fixed route) listed in the app or on the website. Passengers simply need to book their journey in the same way as a normal Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) trip using Tiger on Demand.
All users of the bus are encouraged to sign up to Tiger on Demand, with the longer-term intention that all passengers book their journeys independently, just like any other Tiger on Demand trip. You can sign up via the Tiger on Demand app, or call the support centre, who can create an account for you over the phone. More information is in the flyer here: 125_MarketDay_TOD_A5.
You can also book bus journeys via the app or over the telephone.
The Tiger on Demand Support Centre number is 01480 595 440
Bus passes can be used with Tiger on Demand ensuring that pass holders still benefit from free travel.
Recurring bookings can be made, so that you do not have to book every week. After today, the support centre will begin communicating directly with passengers to set up a recurring booking. This means:
- Your journey will automatically be booked for every Thursday.
- You will not need to rebook each week within the 48-hour window.
- If you are not travelling on a particular week, you simply need to cancel that booking.
These recurring bookings should mean that in practice the bus service continues to operate as it does currently. During January, we have managed to secure that the bus runs along the old 125 route at the usual time, even if some passengers have not yet made a booking. Drivers will also be able to assist with bookings.
The arrangement will be reviewed in a few months time, so if you have any comments please let us know – any feedback would be much appreciated on the booking process, reliability of the service, or anything else (including other times when similar arrangements might be helpful).