DUNTON, UK – A free pilot shuttle bus service introduced to safely transport Dunton employees to and from Laindon and Shenfield train stations has been given a huge thumbs-up by users.
The service, which came into operation on January 12, provides essential connections between the local train stations and the campus during morning and evening periods, improving accessibility and convenience for staff.
The pilot project, which will run until April 4, has been implemented by a team of volunteers from Ford and Ford Credit comprising Fatima Bouznade, Eliza Keane-Munday, Chris Wellmar, Rebecca Marsh, Debbie Francis, Olufemi Irocheonwu, Karen Hewitt, Anushka Mathew, K.L Taylor Saunders, Joanne Knight and Kuziva Muzondo.
Debbie Francis, Senior Director Human Resources at Ford Credit, is the executive sponsor of the pilot. She explains: “The pilot is being funded by Ford Credit. This initiative wouldn’t have been possible without the dedication of the volunteer team, who have committed significant effort to both the launch and ongoing operation of the service.
“They tried to keep it as simple as possible. If you want to just use it in the morning, you can. There’s no need to prebook, you just have to show your Ford ID and then you can board the bus. We worked with the corporate travel office to identify a Ford-approved supplier, and we’ve been very impressed with quality and standard of the buses.”
Fellow volunteer Anushka Mathew said: “I’ve done the 40-minute walk from Dunton to Laindon before and it’s not pleasant especially in the dark, or when it’s raining. For me, the safety benefit is huge. Knowing that you can board the bus takes a lot of pain and stress out of the commute.”
Eliza Keane-Munday is tracking the number of people using the bus. She told @Ford: “Before we launched the pilot, we carried out a survey to see which stations Dunton-based colleagues use the most, and we got a lot of buy in from people saying they would use the service. The Laindon bus is a 32-seater and is proving particularly popular with commuters on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”
Kuziva Muzondo, another of the volunteers who is working on this project, said: “Since we launched on January 12, we’ve moved about 1,200 passengers, so there’s a lot going on and the numbers keep growing. Currently around three quarters of passengers are Ford employees, and the rest are colleagues from Ford Credit.”
If you want to catch a bus, check out the timetables below. Buses depart from the bus layby near main reception at Dunton Campus.
Departures from Dunton to Laindon and Shenfield @ 16:00, 16:30, 17:00, 17:30.
Departures from Laindon and Shenfield to Dunton @ 07:00, 07:30, 08:00, 08:30.