AN Uber-style bus service which was piloted for two years in Oxford wasn’t “profitable enough” due to traffic issues.

PickMeUp was launched by the Oxford Bus Company in June 2018 and was piloted for two years ending in June 2020.

About 300,000 journeys were made by passengers who were able to request a mini-bus pick-up from virtual bus stops around East Oxford using a mobile phone app which was downloaded 38,000 times.

READ MORE: Residents campaigning for bus route forced to cross 'scary' A34 to reach Oxford

However, MPs have been told by Martin Dean, Go-Ahead Group's UK regional bus managing director, that the delays caused by traffic meant the service “ just couldn't pick up enough people".

Oxfordshire County Council said in 2020 that it was a "great idea" but there was "no obvious way" of making it more viable.

-

Read more from this author

This story was written by Gee Harland, she joined the team in 2022 as a senior multimedia reporter.

Gee covers Wallingford and Didcot.

Get in touch with her by emailing: Gee.harland@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @Geeharland

A message from our Editor

Thank you for reading this story and supporting the Oxford Mail.

If you like what we do please consider getting a subscription for the Oxford Mail and in return we’ll give you unrestricted access with less adverts across our website from the latest news, investigations, features, and sport.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tik Tok for more. 

You can also join the conversation in our Facebook groups: stay ahead of traffic alerts here, keep up to date with the latest from court here, share your favourite memories of Oxford here, get your daily dose of celebrity news here and take some time out with news that will make you smile. 

If you’ve got a story for our reporters, send us your news here. You can also list an event for free here.