The Rutex programme included four schemes employing hire cars provided by commercial operators. This paper reviews the performance of these services, and considers the potential for this mode of operation at other rural sites. The paper is divided into four main parts. Firstly, the mode of operation, and its financial aspects, are described. Secondly, the performance of the four experimental schemes (taw valley car service, Colsterdale car service, stair car service and Northallerton hospital transport service) is summarised. Thirdly, the lessons learnt from the experiments are reviewed. Finally, the potential capability of shared hire cars for dealing with the different demand patterns at a number of other rural sites is considered theoretically. For the covering abstract of the symposium see IRRD no 248815.
Samenvatting