Wightbus

Plaxton Pointer 2 bodied Dennis Dart SLF in Newport in February 2008
Founded	1970
Defunct	2 September 2011
Headquarters	Newport
Service area	Isle of Wight
Service type	School and public services on the Isle of Wight
Destinations	Whole of the Isle of Wight
Fleet	27
Website	Wightbus homepage

Not to be confused with Wrightbus, the bus manufacturer

Wightbus was a bus operator on the Isle of Wight, owned by the Isle of Wight Council. It operated a network of 13 local bus services running across the island, mostly services which would not have been viable for the island's dominant commercial operator, Southern Vectis, to operate.

Wightbus also provided school buses, and transported disabled adults to various day care centres on behalf of the council's social services department. A dial-a-bus service was run over some parts of the island to residents who would be unable to leave their homes to catch a regular service bus.

The Wightbus fleet was made up of 27 vehicles with capacities ranging from 16 to 72. Around 40 trained drivers and passenger-escort staff were employed. Over 1 million passengers travelled on Wightbus services annually.

Wightbus was axed by the Isle of Wight Council in February 2011, with the last services operating on 2 September 2011. Under a new "Community Bus Partnership", Southern Vectis agreed to take on a number of routes previously operated by Wightbus to rural areas of the island in co-ordination with the Isle of Wight Council and the town and parish councils which the services run in. The services are all run by volunteer drivers.

The name 'Wightbus' was the trading name of the Isle of Wight Council's own bus fleet, to which it was known for the last 14 years of its operations. Before 1997, the fleet was in a yellow livery, with 'County Bus' along the sides. The name 'Wightbus' reduced the perceived connection between the Council and the company. Exactly how closely tied the two were was sometimes unclear.

From the new school year from September 2010, all school journeys on the island became operated by Southern Vectis under one contract. As a result, some Wightbus drivers were made redundant, with the others able to transfer to Southern Vectis.

In December 2010, it was announced that the Isle of Wight Council planned to axe all Wightbus services from 31 August 2011 in a bid to save around £175,000 due to funding cuts caused by central government to tackle the national deficit. Despite protests by islanders and alternatives offered by other councillors, it was voted through by Conservative councillors at the full council meeting on 23 February 2011. The last Wightbus timetable ran until 2 September 2011 and was not continued from this date. All routes passed to Southern Vectis who are operating in a community partnership with the Isle of Wight Council and local town and parish councils.