London Dial-a-Ride run by Transport for London (TfL) is a door-to-door community transport service for people with a permanent or long term disability or health problem who are unable, or virtually unable to use public transport. In 2019, there were around 40,000 members of the scheme.

History

In December 1972, London Transport began operating a

dial a ride Demand-responsive transport (DRT), also known as demand-responsive transit, demand-responsive service,
US National Trans ...

service in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the London Borough o ...

, aimed at both commuters and shoppers. This ended in 1976 due to high costs. In 1982, Camden Council set up London's first dial a ride scheme for disabled residents, with funding from the

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

(GLC). Several London councils including

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

soon followed. Following the successful development of GAD-about in Greenwich, a clone prototype project was developed for London Transport which was then handed over in a modular form to allow easy implementation and scaling up. By the late 1980s, there were over 25 dial a ride groups across London, subsidised by a £7.2m grant from

London Regional Transport London Regional Transport (LRT) was the organisation responsible for most of the public transport network in London, England, between 1984 and 2000. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and operatio ...

Until 2003, the London Dial-a-Ride service consisted of six sectors, each of which had its own main colour on the

Mercedes-Benz Sprinter The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter is a light commercial vehicle (van) built by Mercedes-Benz Group AG of Stuttgart, Germany as a large van, chassis cab, minibus, and pickup truck. In the past, the Sprinter had been sold under the Mercedes-Benz, Dod ...

minibuses:

Fleet

, the fleet comprises 256 accessible vehicles, all VW T6 low floor minibuses. The fleet meets Euro VI emission standards, and therefore is Ultra Low Emission Zone compliant. Historically, a range of vehicles have been used including

and

Vito Vito is an Italian name that is derived from the Latin word "''vita''", meaning " life". It is a modern form of the Latin name Vitus, meaning "life-giver," as in San Vito or Saint Vitus, the patron saint of dogs and a heroic figure in southern ...

minibuses.

Taxicard

The 'Taxicard' scheme provides subsidised

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choic ...

and private hire journeys for Londoners with serious mobility or visual issues, with around 60,000 members registered to the scheme. The scheme is run by

London Councils London Councils is the local government association for Greater London, England. It is a cross-party organisation that represents London's 32 borough councils and the City of London. It was formed in 1995 as a merger of the London Boroughs As ...

References

External links

London Dial-a-Ride website
Transport organisations based in London Paratransit services Transport for London {{London-road-stub

History

Fleet

Taxicard

See also

References

External links