fflecsi - Demand Responsive Transport
Well-being goals
Wales has a unique geography, and the distribution of people can make conventional transport services difficult to operate commercially in some areas. We're keen to improve connectivity across all areas of Wales, so that both residents and visitors can travel more sustainably.
Unlike a conventional bus service, fflecsi doesn’t call at the same stops every time, but instead stops where people request to be picked up and dropped off within a set zone. It uses innovative technologies to plan routes based on the journeys that people want to do. Routes are planned both in advance and are adjusted in real time, to deliver people to and from places specified in their booking.
We now operate a range of buses and deliver 11 fflecsi services across Wales in collaboration with bus operators and local authorities. The service delivers approximately 25,000 journeys every month, offering passengers in pilot areas more journey opportunities locally.
Ways of working
We've also brought the bilingual fflecsi call centre inhouse. Handling approximately 300 calls a day, the team has been praised by customers for their promptness and efficient resolution of queries.
In places like Ruthin, people had access to a bus service for the very first time. Our pilots were so successful that it was expanded to include several new villages in Flintshire, Pembrokeshire and the Buckley area. In Ruthin and on the Llyn Peninsula, services are operated by electric buses. The expansion enables more people to access the service for everyday journeys and travel connections, with links to rail and other bus services, including TrawsCymru.
The Ruthin pilot was the second pilot in Denbighshire and the first in all of Wales to feature a zero-tailpipe emission bus. This bus operates off a 115kWh battery with a range of 200km.
fflecsi is more than just another bus service. It enables people to engage with activities in their communities that they haven’t had before and offers more freedom in where people can go by public transport, reducing the need for car usage.
The community of Dolwyddelan in the LL25 area are so pleased that the voice of its residents has been heard and we look forward to having a fflecsi service. Rurality and public transport are vital if we are to gain access for work, pleasure and shopping.
Cllr Liz Roberts
Conwy County Burrough Council
