A NEW bus service has been launched to bring people out from Devon’s cities to Dartmoor without using their cars.
The Dartmoor Explorer, which was launched on May 29, offers tours of the moor by bus from Exeter and Plymouth.
The Exeter route goes to Tavistock, stopping by at Moretonhampstead, Postbridge, Two Bridges and Princetown.
Meanwhile the Plymouth bus goes via Tavistock, Postbridge, Two Bridges and Princetown, terminating at Moretonhamptead.
In both cases, there is an hour to enjoy at your destination. The commercial service is being run by bus company First.
Dartmoor Forest Parish Council chairman Gregg Mann welcomed the service as ’a great idea’ although he felt it would not have a huge impact on the parking problems in and around Princetown on sunny days â?? when trippers head out from the Plymouth area to the moors.
’I think the introduction of the new Dartmoor Explorer is a great idea,’ he said. ’The moor are too beautiful to be enjoyed be only a select few and I think this bus will open up the moors to many more people.
’Because of the problems of the last 15 months more people are now beginning to explore what is on their doorstep and certainly when the law allowed, we saw an influx of visitors to the moors. This is both good news and bad. Good because many people’s livelihoods depend on these visitors but bad because visitors new to the moors may not be familiar with the rules and regulations that exist on Dartmoor.
’I think the Explorer is likely to bring new people to the moors and therefore probably will not affect the parking issues we currently have.
’Unfortunately, all the good work that had been done over the years about car sharing and using public transport has been largely undone by Covid so it might take some time to change the mindset of people visiting the moor the buses need to be convenient, clean and regular.
’They need to stop in the right places and they need to be often enough to make people feel it’s easier than taking the car and searching for a parking space. Finally, it must be cheap, not just for an individual but for a family.’
Dartmoor Forest parish councillor Wendy Stones, who lives in Princetown, said the new Explorer service would be welcomed by people without their own transport in Princetown.
’I know when they did it a while back we had a couple of residents who used to use it and it was brilliant because it got them out. They didn’t have to rely on family and they used it quite frequently.
’Especially as we are now coming out of lockdown, it gives people the chance to be more independent and get out more.
’Some of the residents in Princetown haven’t been out for ages and this give them a chance to do so safely.’
Elsewhere on the moor, the Haytor Hoppa (Service 271) has been revived and improved.
This is a passenger service linking Newton Abbot with Bovey Tracey and Widecombe.
It will operate six services a day on Saturdays and from Monday to Friday during the school summer holidays.
It’s now operated being by Stagecoach with subsidies from from Dartmoor National Park and Devon County Council using new Government funding for buses.
A NEW bus service has been launched to bring people out from Devon’s cities to Dartmoor without using their cars.
The Dartmoor Explorer, which was launched on May 29, offers tours of the moor by bus from Exeter and Plymouth.
The Exeter route goes to Tavistock, stopping by at Moretonhampstead, Postbridge, Two Bridges and Princetown.
Meanwhile the Plymouth bus goes via Tavistock, Postbridge, Two Bridges and Princetown, terminating at Moretonhamptead.
In both cases, there is an hour to enjoy at your destination.