User Guide - Milton Keynes Council
Contents
1. i i l l l l Cancellations We understand that passengers will often need to cancel trips perhaps because of illness or needing to change their plans This isn t a problem however it s important that you let us know in advance if you need to cancel This will often allow trips to be offered to other people who are on the waiting list If you need to cancel a trip please call us as far ahead as possible up to 7 days in advance and tell us your name and the date you wish to cancel for Our Cancellations Line will often go to an answerphone and if this happens you re asked just to leave a brief message after the beep We re sorry if the answerphone is confusing but please don t speak until after the beep and do leave your name we get quite a lot of messages without names which are rather hard to deal with Please note that you can also cancel a trip by emailing us to transport mkct org uk Due to how our booking system operates we can only take cancellations up to 7 days in advance and journeys can t be cancelled until further notice If you re unlikely to be travelling for over a month you may need to cancel your regular trip and then request a new one once you can travel again S PAGE 12 The vehicles that normally Vehicles provide PlusBus services are in a distinctive green livery and are fitted with a tail lift allowing them t2. WCT Milton Keynes Community Transport CONTENTS Booking Pages 3 to 5 Cancelling Page 11 Drivers Page 14 Joining Page 2 Phone Numbers Page 10 Routes amp Pick up Slots Pages 8 to 9 Vehicles Page 12 Waiting List Page 7 W lt PlusBus gt a SS SRS SSS Sass PAGE 2 Introduction The PlusBus service is aimed at those people who find it difficult to use the local bus service It offers door to door transport using accessible vehicles and trained drivers The service works on a membership basis so you need to register for PlusBus before you can make a booking There is no charge for registering forms can be requested by calling our main Bookings Line or by emailing us When returning forms which are A4 in size please ensure you fold them in half or use stamps for large letters JOINING Individuals who meet one of the following criteria can automatically join PlusBus other people may apply but will need to provide further information e Those aged over 80 e Those who have already been issued a disabled blue badge e Those who are registered blind Those who receive War Pensions Mobility Supplement or the higher rate of the Attendance Allowance the Mobility Component of DLA USER GUIDE separate User Guide is available N Dc I I eee ee ee Sq L S ookings Our main Bookings Line 01908 266950 is open from 9am to 3pm on weekdays but not bank holiday
3. be confirmed in writing and that you ll need to make casual bookings if you want to travel before confirmation of your regular trip is received Regular trips can only be weekly and must be to the same destination each week We can t help with fortnightly or monthly bookings unfortunately USER GUIDE w ee ee PAGE 6 Door to door PlusBus is a door to door service This means that when a driver arrives to collect you he or she will knock at the front door and help you to the vehicle mee They will also ensure you reach your sainsburys _ destination safely if it s a private house community centre or similar for shopping trips we ll drop you at aa the agreed point On a return journey please wait by the entrance of the building or your agreed pick up point and the driver will again help you to and from the bus Please note you re not asked to wait outside for the bus at any location that has no shelter available At Lovat Fields drivers will only be able to collect passengers from the main reception and help them back to this point due to the size of the building SHOPPING TRIPS If you need to do a lot of shopping you re asked to take a shopping trolley with you remember this needs to be booked If you need to use individual shopping bags youre asked not to bring more than can be stored immediately around your seat Realistically this means that no customer EER eee should have more t
4. be done the trip will be left on the waiting list see page 7 You ll receive a call back either way normally by Spm that evening to let you Know the outcome BOOKINGS LIMIT Please note that there is a limit to the casual number of booking requests we can take Requests for bookings can for the service and the fact that each TELS AMT booking can take quite some time to look to 7 days in first come first served basis so whilst advance the phones are busiest around Yam the of being able to make a booking request USER GUIDE each day This is due to the high demand at and schedule Requests are taken on a earlier you call the more chance you have Regular Bookings A regular journey is one that happens each week with the same pick up slot and destination every week It has the advantage that the customer knows when to expect their vehicle and they only have to phone up to cancel a trip The journey will happen automatically each week otherwise Regular journey requests are dealt with once a month this is due to the volume of requests and the time it aY takes to process them New regular journeys start from the 1st of each month and the deadline for requesting a trip is the 17th of the previous month For example a customer who wants a trip to start at the beginning of November would need to request it no later than the 17th of October Please note that any new regular trip will
5. so that we know how much space to allow on the vehicle When you make a booking you ll therefore be asked what your mobility for the trip is using the following categories e Walking passenger with no frame trolley or similar e Walking passenger with a frame trolley or similar e Wheelchair user or scooter user Please note that if you re using a wheelchair or scooter and you know that this is a small design it helps if you can let us know when you book We appreciate it s difficult to judge the size of a wheelchair scooter however anormal manual wheelchair or 3 wheel scooter would be considered eee eee el PAGE 14 Drivers We employ around 30 drivers on both full and part time contracts Each driver completes their MiDAS training course before starting work this is a nationally recognised i scheme covering driving skills use of equipment and customer care as well as a full company induction programme This includes time spent with experienced drivers to help learn the area and get to Know customers All our drivers carry ID badges and wear uniform and are there to help customers They aim to treat passengers with courtesy and respect and the Same approach is expected of users in return OPERATING TIMES On weekdays PlusBus operates from 8am to 10pm At weekends the service is available between 8 40am and Spm Please note there is not normally a bank holiday service and that over Chri
6. han four small bags I l l l i l I l N The Waiting List Unfortunately there is more demand for PlusBus than there is capacity This means that each day some trips will be placed on the waiting list because we can t find a journey when it s requested About 20 of booked journeys are cancelled maybe due to the individual being ill or having made other plans and a lot of these cancellations are received at short notice Each day we therefore look at journeys on the waiting list for the next day and if a journey has become possible due to other cancellations we ll contact you to let you know the times Please note that if your booking request is on the waiting list and you don t hear from us then we still don t have a trip available If you ve requested a regular journey and we can t offer you a regular slot we can put it on the waiting list each week automatically This means that if on one particular week we can offer you a trip we ll contact you but there won t necessarily be the same trip available the following week as the availability is due to other users cancelling It s quite possible the trip you re offered won t be at the times you ve requested this is because PlusBus is extremely busy We appreciate any flexibility you can show with regard to times and this will help us to offer you and others a trip PAGE 8 Routes We use a so
7. o take wheelchairs and scooters Occasionally a white vehicle like the one to the right or even an orange bus will be used instead LAA of our vehicles are maintained AT to the same standard in our own workshop Each bus is inspected once every six weeks and basic tea daily checks are undertaken by our team of Fleet Assistants who also keep the vehicles looking clean FARES The money collected in fares on PlusBus is returned to Milton Keynes Council and contributes towards the cost of the service although it only covers about 10 of the total cost Fares are payable by every passenger including escort and should be paid in cash on boarding We cannot accept cheques or advance payment USER GUIDE De ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee Mobility as being of a small design for booking purposes PAGE 13 There are often questions about whether there is any priority system that applies to PlusBus The simple answer is no all casual bookings are taken on a first come first served basis there is no prioritisation lOlld eP of regular journeys either We appreciate that people travel for different reasons and there are often suggestions that medical trips for example should be given priority There are many issues involved and these are all sensitive questions however at present all requests are treated equally For every booking we assign a mobility to the passenger
8. oncern and Ealing Community Transport We trade as a social enterprise basically 31 Burners Lane meaning we don t have to make a profit for Kiln Farm Milton Keynes shareholders MK11 3HA fo AGE Miton Keynes eles Bookings a a 01908 266950 Cancellations 01908 266955 nn a E a E a O a E a O a l I i Other Services Whilst PlusBus is the main service that MKCT provides in terms of the number of vehicles and passengers we also offer a range of other services Some of these are listed below please contact us for more information e Day Trips during the summer months we run trips to places of interest using our normal accessible vehicles Destinations have included Woburn Safari Park London Shuttleworth Air Museum and the Seaside Prices start from 8 per person e Group Transport we re able to hire minibuses to local community groups for their own exclusive use Prices start from 50 per vehicle for a return journey in MK making a difference I
9. phisticated computer scheduling package to plan routes X X and shifts and this has helped us to increase the number of trips we accommodate from around 1 200 F per week when PlusBus was launched to well over 2 000 just two years later Sometimes there are queries about the routes that are followed There may be reasons for particular routes that aren t obvious for example restrictions on the times we can get to certain places and also there are many different ways to get between two points in Milton Keynes The route that seems the most sensible to one person may be very different from the route another person would choose DESTINATIONS PlusBus can serve destinations anywhere within the Milton Keynes Council area This includes the main city area as well as Olney Hanslope and Woburn Sands Unfortunately we re unable to go beyond the MK Council boundaries and this means we dont serve Newton Longville Old Stratford or Deanshanger USER GUIDE you re asked to let us know Pick up Slots i All PlusBus bookings are confirmed for a 20 minute slot for example from 10am to 10 20am This means that you need to be ready at 10am i e with your coat keys etc to hand although we re not asking you to stand outside or similar and the bus will arrive between 10am and 10 20am This flexibility is one of the reasons why we ve been able to increase the number of passengers we take as it a allows the e
10. s When you phone us to make any sort of booking you ll need to tell us the following information e Your full name e The date s on which you want to travel e Where youre travelling from e Where you re travelling to if possible please have the postcode available e Whether you re travelling with an escort e Whether you ll be taking a trolley or any mobility aids for the trip e g scooter wheelchair frame There are two types of booking casual and regular These are each explained on the next two pages Please remember that PlusBus only operates within the Milton Keynes Council area and that all bookings are for individuals If you need to travel as a group you may wish to consider using our Group Transport service for which a mm a Oe Bookings can also be made by emailing transport mkct org uk USER GUIDE Casual Bookings A casual booking is for a one off trip and can be booked up to 7 days in advance Please note that you need to call at least one working day before you want to travel we can t usually take bookings for the same day VALE J Ny CANTAS Casual bookings When a casual booking request is are for one off de the detail don trips maybe to Made the details are passed onto our meet a friend schedulers who will work on allocating or to go foran the journey to a bus and driver later on appointment that day Hopefully a journey will be found and the trip scheduled if this can t
11. stmas the arrangements generally change This includes both booking periods and the times at which PlusBus operates USER GUIDE PAGE 15 One of the most common questions that s asked about PlusBus is why aren t the buses always full There are many reasons why they arent but the main point is that it s often time that limits us rather than space on the bus A bus may have a spare seat for example but if it were to take an extra ten minutes to collect and drop off an additional customer the driver may not have time to do that without becoming late for the next passenger who could then be late for their doctor s appointment or similar S snq ijn fo I ee ee ee ee ee ee mR Feedback l l 1 We re always happy to hear views from users and we aim to record all comments that are made over the phone even _ If these arent expressed formally We try to respond to 1 both verbal and written comments within seven days l We re also able to visit groups or individuals to talk about the PlusBus service and to answer any questions Each year we carry out a full customer survey with forms being sent to all registered members by post Whilst this focuses on our overall service i e not just PlusBus it gives a good indication of what users think and it also lets us ask questions that help to shape the service we eee USER GUIDE MKCT is an equal partnership between Age C
12. xact time to move within the a nee j slot depending on other bookings and cancellations Some passengers find the 20 minute slot a little confusing but please just bear in mind the following simple points e You need to be ready at the earlier of the two times e The bus will arrive at some point between these two times It won t necessarily be at the earlier time e The driver may not be able to wait if you re not ready Buses should not arrive before the start of your slot if this should happen the driver will certainly be happy to wait until the start of the slot and should it happen regularly USER GUIDE w PAGE 10 Phone Numbers Our main Bookings Line is 01908 266950 and this is open from Yam to 3pm It does get very busy at times however we ll do our best to answer your call as quickly as possible There is a Customer Hotline 01908 266954 which you can call if your bus hasn t arrived by the end of your confirmed slot or if you ve travelled out with PlusBus and have missed your return trip We can then help you with these urgent issues The Customer Hotline cannot be used for general enquiries including lost property checking times etc or bookings please help us to keep this line available for genuine operational problems 01908 266950 bookings 9am to 3pm 01908 266954 hotline anytime 01908 266955 cancellations anytime USER GUIDE for urgent operational problems only I l
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