The LB1 Lyme Bay Night Link launches TODAY Friday 1 May!

Hi all,

In the rush to get our last newsletter out in time to let you know that there was no MMMM! on 27 April, we forgot to include the exciting news about the LB1 launching TODAY, Friday 1 May!

As reported by Bridport News, the LB1 was spearheaded by West Dorset Commons and follows in the footsteps of our successful WB1 West Bay Shuttle Bus project.

Both bus services were made possible by £20,000 grants that we successfully applied for from the Western Gateway Sub-national Transport Authority.

But neither bus would be possible without the cross-sector partnerships we've built with our local town councils and bus operators.

For the WB1 West Bay Shuttle bus we partnered with Bridport Town Council and Dorset Community Transport who have both done an amazing job promoting and running the service. Thanks is also due to everyone that came to the Best of Bridport fundraiser at the Lyric Theatre, the bands and artists that created a beautiful evening, volunteer stewards and security, and local business people and individuals that donated.

For the LB1 we've partnered with Lyme Regis Town Council (LRTC) and First Bus Wessex, Dorset and South Somerset. LRTC have already issued two press releases about it, sent out a newsletter, and have published the following article in the May 2026 edition of LymeLiving Magazine:

The full timetable can be found at https://bustimes.org/services/lb1-bridport-bus-station-holm-bush-car-park

Bridport Tourist Information Centre have also produced this PDF timetable which usefully includes the timing and details of the last bus which runs all the back to Weymouth (calling in at West Bay at 00:18):

Communities have agency

Both the WB1 and LB1 are small but real examples of something important: communities have agency. When enough of us decide we want something to exist, like a late bus home from a night out, or a shuttle to the beach, and we're willing to come together to make it happen, it can happen.

There are fantastic groups like DTAG and WATAG who do the very important job of holding councils and private operators to account, and we're grateful for their support. But what we're doing at West Dorset Commons is something different. Realising we have agency, we're deciding together that we want something to exist, and then working together to make it happen.

A Transport Commons

This isn't just a nice story, it's actually how we framed both projects from the start. When we presented the WB1 idea to Bridport Town Council we talked about creating "a transport, or mobility, commons." And in our successful LB1 grant application to Western Gateway, the long-term financial sustainability plan we proposed was explicitly called a "Transport Commons" model. It's one of the reasons they awarded us the funding.

So what is a commons?

As David Bollier puts it in his excellent book Think Like a Commoner, a commons is:

"a resource + a community + a set of social protocols"

Or, put another way:

"a commons arises whenever a given community decides it wishes to manage a resource in a collective manner, with special regard to equitable access, use and sustainability."

That's exactly what we're trying to build with the buses. The resource is the bus service. The community is everyone who lives along the route, works in the towns, or visits the area. The social protocols are the agreements we'll develop together about how it's funded, run and governed for the long term. We're part of a growing movement of commons-orientated organisations across the country, including The Bristol Commons, Hastings Commons and Stroud Commons, all working out in practice what it means for communities to take collective responsibility for the things they depend on.

What happens when the grant runs out

The £20,000 grants from Western Gateway have got both services off the ground, but grant-funded periods don't last forever. If we want the WB1 and the LB1 to still be running in a few years' time, buses we'll have grown to rely on, plan our evenings around, and genuinely love, they'll need a secure financial future beyond the initial grant.

In time, we'll be inviting the people and businesses these buses serve to chip in monthly towards their running costs. Not huge amounts from anyone, but enough people contributing something that the sums add up.

That's how a Transport Commons works in practice, and it's also a far more resilient way to fund the services we depend on than the alternatives. Council budgets get cut. Grants come to an end. Corporate operators withdraw routes the moment they stop being profitable. But a service that's collectively funded by the community it serves, by the people who actually use it and benefit from it, has a much better chance of standing the test of time.

The best way to say thanks

Every time the buses get a mention on social media, the comments fill up with thanks and gratitude, and it's lovely to see. If you've enjoyed the WB1, or you're looking forward to using the LB1, and you want to support this and other projects working to meet the needs of West Dorset within the means of the living planet, the very best thanks you can give is to join West Dorset Commons for £5 or more a month.

That's what makes the next bus, the next project, and the next one after that possible.

Join West Dorset Commons

Our goal is to make the West Dorset bioregion a home to thriving people, in a thriving place, while respecting the wellbeing of all people and the health of the planet.

🚀 In other words, get the West Dorset bioregion into the Doughnut by making "rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society" a reality in our locality.

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