Bus Vannin dial a ride services

Summary

A request for specific annual operating costs and revenue for Bus Vannin's dial-a-ride services was partially fulfilled because the authority cannot separate minibus figures from the wider fleet. Instead, the Department of Infrastructure provided year-to-date expenditure for the entire bus sub-division and income specifically for the Connect Villages service.

Key Facts

• The authority does not hold information on dial-a-ride costs and revenue at a level of detail that separates minibuses from the rest of the bus fleet.
• Minibuses perform multiple duties including school transport, patient transport, and commercial services like Connect Ports and Connect Villages.
• Much of the minibus work is funded from internal budgets transferred from other Departments.
• The commercial aim is to generate income from spare seats to reduce the cost of government-operated services.
• The request was closed on 21 January 2020 with some information provided at a higher level.

Data Disclosed

• 1100261
• 2019-12-12
• 2020-01-21
• 1 April 2019 to 31 December 2019
• £951,202
• £7,835

Exemptions Cited

• Information not held or cannot be found after taking reasonable steps due to lack of detailed recording

Original Request

What are the annual operating costs to Bus Vannin of operating the demand responsive (dial a ride) services ? What is the annual revenue generated for Bus Vannin by operating the demand responsive (dial a ride)services ?

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Department of Infrastructure Sea Terminal Building, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 2RF

Contact: FOI Response Team Telephone: (01624) 686785 Email: dpo-doi@gov.im

Our ref: 1100261 21 January 2020

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 12 December 2019 and which states:

"1. What are the annual operating costs to Bus Vannin of operating the demand responsive (dial a ride) services ? 2. What is the annual revenue generated for Bus Vannin by operating the demand responsive (dial a ride)services ?" While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the public authority does not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find some of the information that you have requested. This is because some of the information is not recorded at a level of detail which would enable us to identify minibus figures separately from the rest of the bus fleet. The minibus fleet provides a range of services. Some vehicles are used almost exclusively for schools, others are used for transporting patients or clients with special needs, others provide the Connect Ports or Connect Villages services. Most vehicles and drivers will perform a range of duties in the day. Many vehicles will provide more than one service at a time - a Connect Ports service will transport DHSC patients whilst also carrying paying passengers. Much of this work is funded from internal budgets transferred from other Departments. The Department operates minibuses primarily to meet the needs of other Departments, their service users or, in the case of Connect Villages, as public transport. The aim of commercial operations is to generate an income from spare seats to reduce the cost of services that Government needs to operate. We have endeavoured to give as much information as we can, if necessary at a higher level. 1. For the bus sub-division as a whole, the year to date expenditure (1 April 2019 to 31 December 2019) was £951,202. 2. The year to date income from 1 April to 31 December 2019 for the Connect Villages service was £7,835.

Please quote the reference number 1100261 in any future communications.

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Yours sincerely

FOI Response Team