Demand responsive transport: A review of schemes in England and Wales

Local-authority-administered Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) schemes are increasingly prevalent in England and Wales, partly as a result of the growth in the availability of government funding. However, insufficient research has been undertaken into the nature of these schemes and their performance, making it difficult to predict their future role. In this respect, a survey was undertaken to collect data on the background, operation, and performance of DRT schemes in England and Wales. It found that DRT schemes are often designed in an attempt to tackle social problems caused by poor accessibility and that they took time to become established, to achieve their objectives, and to reach an acceptable performance in terms of subsidy level. The paper concludes that local-authority-led DRT schemes have a role to play, but that lessons learned from schemes currently in operation must be heeded by those contemplating new scheme development

Demand responsive transport : a review of schemes in England and Wales

Local Authority administered Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) schemes are increasingly prevalent in England and Wales, partly as a result of the growth in the availability of Government funding. However insufficient research has been undertaken into the nature of these schemes and their performance making it difficult to predict their future role. In this respect, a survey was undertaken in order to collect data on the background, operation and performance of DRT schemes in England and Wales. It found that DRT schemes are often designed in an attempt to tackle social problems caused by poor accessibility, and that they took time to become established, to achieve their objectives and to reach an acceptable performance in terms of subsidy level. The paper concludes that Local Authority led DRT schemes have a role to play but that lessons learnt from schemes currently in operation must be heeded by those contemplating new scheme development

Comprehensive global genome dynamics of Chlamydia trachomatis show ancient diversification followed by contemporary mixing and recent lineage expansion.

Chlamydia trachomatis is the world's most prevalent bacterial sexually transmitted infection and leading infectious cause of blindness, yet it is one of the least understood human pathogens, in part due to the difficulties of in vitro culturing and the lack of available tools for genetic manipulation. Genome sequencing has reinvigorated this field, shedding light on the contemporary history of this pathogen. Here, we analyze 563 full genomes, 455 of which are novel, to show that the history of the species comprises two phases, and conclude that the currently circulating lineages are the result of evolution in different genomic ecotypes. Temporal analysis indicates these lineages have recently expanded in the space of thousands of years, rather than the millions of years as previously thought, a finding that dramatically changes our understanding of this pathogen's history. Finally, at a time when almost every pathogen is becoming increasingly resistant to antimicrobials, we show that there is no evidence of circulating genomic resistance in C. trachomatis

Exploring College Student Identity Among Young People With Foster Care Histories and Mental Health Challenges

For this study, researchers from Pathways Research and Training Center at Portland State University explored the perspectives of college students with foster care histories and self-identified mental health conditions. Researchers aimed to better understand how the relationship between students’ foster care identity and their newly forming student identities might impact academic success. We conducted interviews with students participating in the FUTURES intervention efficacy study, which evaluated the impact of a 9-month self-determination coaching program for students enrolled in their first two years of college at Portland State University, Portland Community College, or Mt. Hood Community College. Interview participants (N=18) were 72% female, 78% identified as non-white or mixed race, and 28% identified as LGBTQIA. The research team conducted thematic analysis of the interview transcripts by iteratively organizing inductive codes into broader themes and developing related findings. Four themes were developed related to the complexities of the foster student experience – including mental health challenges and other life stressors, and their impact on developing student identities in postsecondary education

Exploring College Student Identity among Young People with Foster Care Histories and Mental Health Challenges

Young adults with foster care histories experience unique barriers to success in postsecondary academic settings, including higher rates of mental health challenges. This study reports the perspectives of college students with foster care histories and self-identified mental health concerns (N = 18) about how these factors relate to their post-secondary academic experiences. Study participants describe managing their mental health amid other academic and life stressors, share their perspectives on campus-based support and help-seeking experiences, and highlight the need for acknowledgement of their foster care identities in conjunction with their developing college student identities. Participants make a case for programming to help with managing challenges related to overwhelming emotions in response to compounding stressors, balancing self-reliance with help-seeking when needed, and developing interpersonal relationships that reduce feelings of otherness in the campus context. Recommendations for improving student experiences include mental health services provided by people familiar with the lived experience of foster care, access to foster student-specific programs providing social, emotional, and academic support, and campus-wide efforts improve the conditions for academic success in the face of difficult personal histories and elevated mental health challenges

Evaluation study of demand responsive transport services in Wiltshire. Final report.

Introduction: Wiltshire has one of the most established DRT networks in Britain with the first ‘Wigglybus’ scheme being introduced in 1998 under the first tranche of Rural Bus Challenge funding from the then Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions. Subsequently, the network has developed such that it now has eight routes made up of ‘Wigglybus’, ‘Hopper’ and taxi-based DRT services. Consequently the County is seen as being a leader in the field of DRT. The Council is, however facing significant financial pressures. In particular, costs in the bus industry are rising at a rate significantly higher than inflation while the available sources of subsidy are either under threat due to a significant reduction in the County’s overall funding through the Annual Settlement Grant, or else disappearing altogether (e.g. Rural Bus Challenge, finance from NHS PCT Trusts). As a result, in March 2006, Wiltshire County Council employed a research team from Loughborough University to evaluate Demand Responsive Transport services in the County and make recommendations as to how the County Council should proceed regarding its DRT services in the future

Demand-Responsive Transport schemes in England and Wales and considerations for their future

DRT ‘provides transport ‘‘on demand’’ from passengers using fleets of vehicles scheduled to pick up and drop off people in accordance with their needs’ (Mageean and Nelson, 2003, p.255). DRT has also been seen as ‘an intermediate form of public transport, somewhere between a regular service route that uses small low floor buses and variably routed highly personalised transport services offered by taxis’ (Brake et al, 2004, p. 324). As such DRT can essentially be defined as an intermediate and highly flexible mode of transportation giving rise to a wide variety of uses. Numerous DRT services operate in the UK, however their future is uncertain as funding streams are in the main coming to an end. Some schemes have already ceased operating whilst others are thriving. As such, it is opportune to take stock of how DRT schemes are performing and what they are doing in order to discern a future strategy for DRT. The aim of this paper is to investigate the current situation with respect to publicly funded DRT schemes in England and Wales. Specifically it investigates how and why DRT schemes have been established, including data on their design and operation, the reasons for scheme implementation and their objectives. Finally it considers the current performance of DRT schemes and the likely future of such schemes. The section below provides a brief summary of the DRT literature followed by an outline of the method used to collect the data. This consisted of a survey which was sent to a carefully selected number of local authorities who administer DRT schemes. The findings from this survey are then presented and finally conclusions are developed in terms of the way forward