Many residents in the parishes of Ashprington and Cornworthy will be familiar with Bob the Bus, and its twice-weekly (Wednesday and Friday) services to and from Totnes.
From Totnes – 0830 (Western bypass) and 1245 (opposite Royal Seven Stars)
From Cornworthy to Totnes – 0855 and 1315; from Ashprington to Totnes – 0905 and 1330
The full timetable, including services within Totnes, is at bobthebus.org.uk/timetables.
But did you know that:
- We carried almost 40,000 passengers in and around town last year?
- We’re the only public transport serving Totnes Fore Street, High Street, both GP surgeries, job centre, Citizens’ Advice and the railway station?
- We accept all bus passes and contactless payment?
- Our Travel Club has over 100 members, and runs day excursions for 30 of them every month?
- You can hire Bob for a private outing or function?
- Almost all our regular services and trips are operated by volunteer drivers?
Our regular passengers will have noticed that all our buses are beginning to show their age – our two youngest are now almost 8 years old – and because of repairs and maintenance, we can’t always offer you a fully-accessible low floor vehicle. So, the time has come for a new bus, to increase both resilience and capacity. We have a new 16-seater on order, and we expect delivery in May 2024.
But we need your help…!
Although we have nearly 40 volunteer drivers on our books, we still need more. If you have a valid driving licence, we can give you basic training, supervision, and mentoring. Most of our volunteers drive for a half day on a weekly or fortnightly basis; some prefer to be more flexible and drive for day trips or shorter journeys.
We employ only one full-time coordinator, so we badly need volunteers who can assist with a host of admin jobs – these could include collating travel data, publicity, fundraising and IT (such as website and social media updating). And for anyone who’s more ‘hands on’, our buses need regular maintenance, repair and cleaning; so there’s lot of fun to be had with a pressure washer…
And of course, money! Our new bus carries a price tag of £110,000. We have reserves to fund around half this amount, so we’re working hard on a fundraising campaign. We’re targeting the obvious large funders, such as the National Lottery, but we also need to raise cash from individuals and businesses.
If you’re able to make a one-off donation, you can use this link or call us on 07800 745332. If you’re a business and would like to discuss sponsorship or advertising (we have display screens on our service buses), please email us. And if you have any comments, feedback and suggestions, we’d love to hear from you…
Email: totnescommunitytransport@gmail.com
Phone: 07800 745332
Website: bobthebus.org.uk
Steve Grove, Chair of Trustees
