Rural isolation is a growing problem especially as rural communities have become more and more isolated in recent times. This is mainly down to the fact that schools and hospitals were not designed to be accessible easily by bus or train. Bus routes and their decline has hit the young, unemployed and elderly the hardest.
There is a greater need than ever to ensure people are not trapped in their own homes. England’s lowest income earners also make up 75% of their public transport trips via bus. Essentially this means the lower income group make up three times as many bus trips as high income earners in the UK. Across the country, 9% of UK households have low incomes but then have high motoring costs on top. This makes it even more difficult to drive and many often opt for the cheaper option of the bus, despite rising fares and reduced options.
Without a way of getting where they need to be, these members of our community are essentially cut off. The cuts highlight the importance of transport networks and how important it is to find solutions to an ever-growing problem. The knock-on effect of not being able to get to places are increased depression and a decreased sense of well-being through a poorer quality of life. Believe it or not humans are social creatures and without seeing our friends and engaging in the community our standard of living drops considerably – yes, even though you can now get Netflix and Facetime people half-way across the world!
The impact of losing a strong transport network in your local community is far more damaging than the journey itself. Road XS is all about enabling routes to operate efficiently and to help save costs for transport providers. By using our smart route technology and the ability to pinpoint locations, Road XS is developing a vial transport software platform to tackle rural isolation. It’s not talked about often enough, but poor transport networks impact the quality of relationships, quality of care, quality of health and quality of life.
Transport is as important to the economy as the Internet is because without movement, we go nowhere.
