The definitive version of this article is published by Elsevier as: Brake, J F, Mulley, C, Nelson, J D and Wright, S D. Key lessons learned from recent experience with Flexible Transport Services Transport Policy 14, 6, 2007 doi:10.1016/j.tranpol.2007.09.001 Key lessons learned from recent experience with Flexible Transport Services Jenny Brake a , Corinne Mulley a , John D Nelson b, * and Steve Wright b a Transport Operations Research Group, School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK b Centre for Transport Research, School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3UF, UK. Abstract Many local authorities and public transport operators throughout Europe are experimenting with or considering flexibly delivered public transport systems, mainly with a view to improving social inclusion in areas difficult to cover by conventional public transport. Many such initiatives have been in response to recent developments in transport telematics. The objective of this paper is to provide accessible and user friendly guidelines for the implementation or development of flexible services identifying key issues that need to be considered at a policy level. These follow an analysis of the provision * Corresponding author. Tel.: +44-1224-272354; fax: +44-1224-272331; e-mail: j.d.nelson@abdn.ac.uk