Moray Council – Transportation (Moray Growth deal – Project Bus Revolution)

Please name the main purpose of your business.

Revolutionising Moray Council delivered Public Transport services with clear aims to increase the number of people using public transport to get to and from rural areas to places of work, education and leisure and providing a step change in availability of public transport right across rural Moray.

Deliver transition from fossil fuel bus platforms to zero carbon emitting alternatives and growing the required infrastructure to support a sustainable public transport network for the future – introducing you to m.connect

What are the benefits to operating in Moray?

Simply put…the people, the opportunities that Moray has to offer in many industries; as well as the tourism and cultural events within the area.

How do you connect to your local customers?

There are 3 elements to how we connect with the community, these are:

1. External communications: to create a better understanding between the authority and the people it serves.
2. Internal communications: to support communication on corporate issues as required.
3. Consultation/Engagement: to support opportunities to effectively engage the public, our partners and staff to inform and direct the way we deliver our services in Moray.

The Council uses a number of different ways to communicate with stakeholders. The platform used depends on how many people will be reached, how quickly the message needs to get to the audience, cost-effectiveness and accessibility. There is no 'one size fits all' solution and a mixed approach will generally be required to achieve the most effective results.

Why are you part of Moray Chamber of Commerce?

Firstly, m.connect aims to provide transport solutions which enables people using public transport to get to and from rural areas to places of work, education and leisure locations. Networking opportunities within the chamber of Commerce will yield a greater understanding of where, when and how transport should planned and delivered to better support, business and employment opportunities throughout Moray.; ensuring the business community are invested in the m.connect service development from the outset.

Secondly, being part of community discussion around business and transport can only benefit and generate better impact of the m.connect service throughout Moray for it residents.

What are you most proud of?

We are extremely proud of how we support the community through accessible transport provision. Every day has unique operational challenges, which the operations team tackle with enthusiasm and determination to ensure that the community get the best public transport service available.

All the team are socially aware and community spirited in their approach. This ensures that our transport really does have that community feel through delivery.

Bus revolution will help grow m.connect in the coming years, and has the potential to bring real change to the lives of everyone in Moray – connecting you to employment, education opportunities and to the many cultural events throughout the region.

Finally, name one misconception that people have about your business.

People often think that any transport service delivered by Moray Council is for a specific element of the community, which is the main misconception of the service and discourages some from enquiring about the service further.

m.connect is a fully inclusive public transport service for everyone to access. There are 2 elements to m.connect:

1. Timetabled services on traditional bus routes throughout Moray, and:

2. m.connect On-demand. This is a responsive service where customers book the service via an app or by using a customer service telephone line. Journey can be booked as many times as a customer requires within a 2 week booking window, and journeys can be made as early as 1 hr before travel is required…subject to availability.

The service provides, On-board WIFI and USB sockets in all of our new vehicles operating the m.connect services. The service is supported by an operations portal that helps manage and schedule bookings, whilst delivering efficient fleet management.

Payment systems on-board vehicles allow for cash, card (including contactless payment) and National entitlement free travel cards (NEC) for fare payments on the service.