New accessible bus design welcomed by islanders

A charity supporting people with a visual impairment said new buses in Jersey will be "really helpful" for its clients.

LibertyBus said the 22 new buses have features including bigger font sizes on signs and clearer announcements for each stop.

Head of Eyecan, Mark Coxshall, said there had been some "really great adaptions" that had been "considered really carefully" and would be "really well appreciated by our clients".

Kevin Hart, director of LibertyBus, said the new vehicles would begin service in the new year and were expected to lower the fleet's overall carbon footprint.

Mr Coxshall said the charity had been working with the bus company to make sure the new vehicles were accessible.

He said: "There's some really good screenage use inside, some good contrast, some good font sizes, so that people can read the bus stops they're arriving at."

"We spoke about audio to say when we're arriving at certain stops, there are certain obstacles in Jersey which are quite niche, they're French road names, there's been some work to overcome that," Mr Coxshall added.

The buses are part of a £5m investment by LibertyBus after it signed a new 10-year contract with the Government of Jersey in October 2024.

The Turkish-built Otokar Vectio C buses are due to enter service in the new year.

In December one of the buses was on display to islanders in the Royal Square.

Angela Mahoney travels by bus once or twice a week and said the new design "looks very nice and brand new, good layout, lots of room, lovely double seats".

She said she loves the bus service: "[it's] very efficient, drivers are great, really happy bunch, really nice to see this new fleet coming in. It's great."

Some passengers said there were still areas of the service they would like to see improved.

Sarah Jordan, who uses the bus several times a week, said daytime services were frequent enough but felt night-time journeys could be more regular.

She said: "I've tried a few times to come back from somewhere out to the bus station and then home and the home buses have been a long time to wait."

She added that she would like to see more seating on the new buses, particularly for disabled passengers along with improvements to some routes.

"There's certain routes I would have said are lacking," she said, adding that services to places such as the hospice had been reduced, which she said could leave some people relying on taxis.

In response to these points, LibertyBus said it has "more services at night than the island has ever had in the past" and there are at least six priority seats and one wheelchair space on every vehicle.

It added a route to the hospice wasn't commercially viable to continue due to lack of passengers, and was discontinued in 2020.

Gillian Little said she used the bus occasionally and felt the service suited where she lives.

"I've always got on, there's always been a seat," she said.

She added that frequency mattered more to her than comfort.

She said: "It's more the convenience of having a bus than looking for luxury seats and chairs."

John Coran, who travels by bus once or twice a week, said he was satisfied with the service overall.

"We've got a very good choice of buses," he said.

"That's the best way to travel now with all the parking."

He added that buses could be busy at certain times of day.

"The afternoon bus, when the children are on at school, it's pretty crowded, but apart from that I've got no fault for it at all," he added.

Follow BBC Jersey on X, and Facebook . Send your story ideas to [email protected].