An Optare Solo owned by a local authority and run by a leading Bristol operator is providing much-needed services to people living in Cheddar – the Somerset village famous for its spectacular gorge and its world-famous cheese.

Eurotaxis Limited, which operates over 200 vehicles from taxis to buses and coaches, is running the Solo on the 672 service that connects Cheddar with Bristol. The service operates seven days a week serving the numerous rural communities that lie along the 25-mile route and providing dependable transport for workers, students and shoppers.

Bath and North East Somerset Council own the Solo and subsidise the service jointly with its neighbour North Somerset Council. The bus is on the Eurotaxis operating licence and the contract covers the provision of drivers, fuel and maintenance support, which is carried out in the company’s well-equipped workshop in Bristol.

“The Solo is proving to be a good vehicle to use on this country service,” says William Sanzo, a director of the company. “It’s running on country lanes for quite a lot of the time and its narrow width of 2.33 metres is appreciated by the drivers. It’s also got plenty of power at 110 kW to cope easily with hilly terrain without compromising on fuel economy. And the Allison automatic transmission makes the bus a joy to drive.

“Passengers like the Solo too, especially our more elderly passengers who find it easy to get on and off. The Rescroft Defender seats are comfortable and each is fitted with a lap and diagonal belt for added safety. The all-round air suspension is very forgiving, offering a steady ride whatever the road surface conditions.

“We already run three Solos of our own and our fitters find them easy to work on. We purchased the diagnostic software, which means that we can simply plug a laptop into the wiring system and quickly see if there are any faults and identify their location. Optare provide first-class back-up too through their Unitec operation, with the mobile fitter who covers the South West able to get here quickly should we have a problem.”

The new Solo is a 9.2 metre SlimLine model with 29 seats plus two tip-ups in the wheelchair bay. Like all Solos it’s fully DDA compliant and incorporates an easy-to-use bookleaf wheelchair ramp. Mobitec electronic destination equipment is fitted.

Eurotaxis was formed in 1991 by Juan and Anne Sanzo. From small beginnings as a home-based local taxi operation, the business has grown into the largest operator in Bristol. Today its 200-vehicle fleet ranges from taxis to 53 seat luxury coaches and 88 seat buses. The company remains family owned and run with sons William and Keith now actively involved.

For further information please contact:
Martin Hayes, Communications Advisor, +44 (0) 207 494 8050