Dial-a-Ride’s problems deepen as seniors who rely on the service raise reliability issues

Concerns have been raised that minibuses are far less reliable than they used to be, reports Noah Vickers, local democracy reporter.

Elderly and disabled Londoners have warned that continued failures of the capital’s on-demand minibus service have left them isolated and less able to leave their homes.

Serious issues with Transport for London’s (TfL) Dial-a-Ride scheme were raised with Mayor Sadiq Khan in January, but five months on, users of the service say minibuses can still run hours late or sometimes fail to arrive not at all.

Problems first arose last November when TfL launched a new travel booking app for the service, which Khan admitted experienced “problems from the start”.

The Dial-a-Ride service is a free subscription scheme open to Londoners aged 85 and over or those with a long-term disability.

The mayor said he accepted that for many people, “the app is not the way to go”, saying that is why “the hotline is still there”.

But while operator availability on the hotline has improved since Christmas – and TfL says more than 90% of travel requests are met – concerns have been raised that minibuses are still far less reliable than before.

At the Diamond Club – a weekly social group for elderly people in Lewisham – several participants told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that they had had frustrating experiences with Dial-a-Ride for months.

“I think since they switched to this (app-based) system, they’ve had more problems,” said Blanche Mcpherson, 80. “It’s much more difficult now to get Dial-a-Ride.”

She added that the service is “a blessing” and “a good service when it works”.

Part of the problem seems to be a simple lack of drivers to meet the demand. Mary Donohue, 82, said she tried to make reservations two weeks in advance, only to be told no minibuses were available.

She added that she used to go to another social club, but stopped after Dial-a-Ride took three hours to arrive and take her home.

Scheme members said they were sometimes told there was only capacity in the system to take them one way rather than round trip.

Lesley Allen, Diamond Club manager, pointed out that only offering a one-way trip “defeats the purpose of support transport”.

Another problem, users of the service say, is that minibuses can be inefficiently filled with passengers. Three people who use Dial-a-Ride to get home from the Diamond Club at the same time each week said they are often given their own minibus, despite all living just minutes apart.

Fred Hawley, 93, said: “The staff on the buses and in the offices are great, they really are. It’s just that the organization is going a little sideways.”

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Fred, who has a leg amputee and uses a wheelchair, was recently left waiting for hours for a Dial-a-Ride bus to pick him up from the club, which never came.

Despite calling to check and being assured his journey was booked in the system, he was later told to take a subsidized taxi using the taxi card service jointly funded by TfL and London councils.

But no taxi card driver was available, meaning Fred had to rely on Lesley to take him home.

“Eventually Fred had to transfer from his wheelchair to my car,” Lesley said, adding that it was “undignified and stressful” for him as he had to find a way to transfer from seat to enter the vehicle.

Not being able to depend on Dial-a-Ride in the same way as before “means a lot,” Fred said. “Because you look forward (to visiting the Diamond Club), you really do. I know it’s only a few hours, but it’s a godsend, it really is.”

Mary agreed: “It’s the only day I go out now… I think it’s nice to meet your friends and have a chat and a bit of exercise.”

According to TfL, a Dial-a-Ride bus not turning up at all is “extremely rare”. In the past three months, buses have failed to arrive on just three per cent of journeys, TfL said, adding that they will always notify the passenger if there is a problem.

The number of Dial-a-Ride drivers has shrunk in recent years, so there are now about half as many as ten years ago – although TfL says the numbers are in line with customer demand. The transport authority says it recruited twelve extra drivers last year, along with five more so far this year, and more staff to improve call waiting times.

John McGeachy, campaigns manager at Age UK London, said he was concerned that because of TfL’s short-term government funding arrangements after the pandemic, services such as Dial-a-Ride could suffer from under-investment.

“There are so many issues, from replacing trains on the Bakerloo line, or whatever, that things like Dial-a-Ride and taxi services (may get less attention),” he said.

“Proportionately, they have a lot fewer people (using them), but for those who do benefit from them, they make a really significant difference.”

James Mead, managing director of Dial-a-Ride, said: “We’re sorry if any of our customers have experienced difficulties using our Dial-a-Ride service and we welcome any feedback we receive as we strive to to constantly make improvements to the service.

“Dial-a-Ride is an essential free service for many Londoners and we meet over 90% of our customers’ travel requests. We remain committed to further improving the service, which is why we are hiring more staff and have implemented a new booking service.”

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