The BAT Bus
The Bournemouth Accessible Transport (BAT) bus service is available for people who find it difficult to use public transport to get out and about.
“Helping local people get out and about, make friends, and feel part of the community again.”
Many people who live alone and feel isolated find new friends when they join the BAT Bus for our shopping or Lunch outing socials and feel part of the community again.
The BAT bus offers a door-to-door bus service, making use of accessible buses that have a lift/ramp and accessible steps to make it easy to get on and off. They are also suitable for people who use manual or powered wheelchairs. Carers, can also travel on BAT Bus.
Friendly and helpful drivers collect members from their homes and take them to the shops or to a pre-set lunch outing. All the BAT Bus drivers are trained in MIDAS (Minibus Driver Awareness Scheme), and DBS checks for your safety.
BAT Bus Routes
Shopping Outings
Please follow this link to our BAT Bus COVID risk assessment document>>
Shopping Outings: every day except Wednesday (£5.00 return fare)
The bus will come and collect you from your home and drop you off at your preferred shopping destination (Castlepoint or Boscombe Sovereign Centre), where you will have approximately two hours of shopping time before the bus returns; help is always given with loading shopping back onto the bus. You can travel on the BAT Bus in your power chair or manual wheelchair, which will be securely clamped.
The trips you can book will depend upon your postcode. The days of operation are as follows:
Monday & Thursday Shopping: Zone A – BH1, BH5, BH6, BH7, BH8 & BH9 (BH9 east of Wimborne Road)
Tuesday & Friday Shopping: Zone B – BH2, BH3, BH4, BH9 (BH9 west of Wimborne Road) BH10 & BH11
“When the BAT Bus driver rings the doorbell, friendly faces appear, hellos are made, and life begins again.”
Shopping outings in the Christchurch area,
Area BH23 bus on Wednesdays goes to Sainsbury, and on the last Wednesday of the month, you can go to Castlepoint. The Christchurch shopping fee is £7 pp
Lunch Outings
We run half-day outings every Wednesday and Thursday, usually to exciting destinations in Bournemouth and the New Forest, with stops for lunch and scenic drives in the countryside.
Lunch outing every second Monday: Poole – BH12 – BH18
Lunch outing Wednesday: Zone A – BH1, BH5, BH6, BH7, BH8 & BH9 (BH9 east of Wimborne Road)
Lunch outing Thursday: Zone B – BH2, BH3, BH4, BH9 (BH9 west of Wimborne Road) BH10 & BH11
Follow this link to see our current list of outings:>>>. For Bournemouth
Poole Mini trips – you can find out about Poole mini trips by following this link >>
Fares
To use the BAT Bus, you must first join the scheme. Membership costs £12 per year.
Once you are a member, you pay a fare for each journey you make:
- Shopping trips (BH1 – BH11) – £5
- Monday Poole outings – £8 (unless stated otherwise on the Outings List)
- Wednesday and Thursday Bournemouth outings – £7 (unless stated otherwise on the Outings List)
For more information on the Bournemouth Accessible Transport (BAT) bus service, please telephone 01202 534027 or alternatively email us at [email protected]. To make a booking, please call between 10 am and 12 pm the day before unless it’s a pre-bookable.
Mini Trips and Outings
We can offer transport on one of our accessible minibuses for any Social Outings you have provided you are a Charity or your Social Outing is Not-For-Profit.
“Thank you so much for organising the transport for our monthly social, it gives so much pleasure to our members to get out and meet up with people and socialise and to have such a helpful and friendly driver makes all the difference”