London Dial-a-Ride

In December 1972, London Transport began operating a dial a ride service in Hampstead, aimed at both commuters and shoppers.{{Cite web |date=17 November 1972 |title=LT to try Dial-a-Ride |url=https://archive.commercialmotor.com/article/17th-november-1972/58/lt-to-try-dial-a-ride |access-date=2022-11-06 |website=Commercial Motor Archive}} This ended in 1976 due to high costs.{{Cite web |date=23 January 1976 |title=Dial-a-ride dies |url=https://archive.commercialmotor.com/article/23rd-january-1976/19/dial-a-ride-dies |access-date=2022-11-06 |website=Commercial Motor Archive}}

In 1982, Camden Council set up London's first dial a ride scheme for disabled residents, with funding from the Greater London Council (GLC).{{Cite web |date=2 October 1982 |title=Camden bus |url=https://archive.commercialmotor.com/article/2nd-october-1982/13/camden-bus |access-date=2022-11-06 |website=Commercial Motor Archive}}{{Cite web |last=Pickering |first=Caro |date=2013-04-17 |title=Bryan Heiser obituary |url=http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2013/apr/17/bryan-heiser-obituary |access-date=2022-11-04 |website=The Guardian|language=en |quote=He launched the first Dial-a-Ride in Camden, with funding from the Manpower Services Commission and later a grant from Camden council to buy the special vehicles required. Within a few years, with support from the Greater London Council, the scheme had expanded throughout London, and then, with government funding, around the UK.}} Several London councils including 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.{{Cite web |title=Introducing Dial-a-Ride |url=https://artsandculture.google.com/story/introducing-dial-a-ride/ZwXhSOAtgB8YYA |access-date=2024-02-26 |website=Google Arts & Culture |language=en |quote=Following Camden Council's founding of London's first scheme specifically for disabled residents in 1982, by the late 1980s there were over 25 dial a ride groups across London, subsidised by a £7.2m grant from London Regional Transport. In 2002, TfL took them all over to offer a centralised system.}}{{Cite web |date=3 August 1989 |title=Dial-a-Ride cash call |url=https://archive.commercialmotor.com/article/3rd-august-1989/19/dial-a-ride-cash-call |access-date=2022-11-06 |website=Commercial Motor Archive}}File:Dial-a-Ride service areas.svg

Until 2002, the London Dial-a-Ride service consisted of six sectors, each of which had its own main colour on the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter minibuses:

{{legend|#FFD329|Central London (Camden, Kensington & Chelsea, Hammersmith & Fulham, Westminster){{cite web|title=Central London Dial-a-Ride|url=http://www.dial-a-ride.org.uk/central_dar.htm|publisher=Central London Dial-a-Ride|access-date=29 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010303152654/http://www.dial-a-ride.org.uk/central_dar.htm|archive-date=3 March 2001}}}}

{{legend|#EF7B10|North London (Barnet, City of London, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington)}}

{{legend|#0019A8|North East London (Barking & Dagenham, Havering, Newham, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest)}}

{{legend|#00BD19|South East London (Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Lewisham, Southwark)}}

{{legend|#0098D8|South London (Croydon, Kingston upon Thames, Lambeth, Merton, Sutton, Wandsworth)}}

{{legend|#8480D7|West London (Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Richmond upon Thames)}}Since 2002, Dial-a-Ride has been run and funded solely by TfL. In 2012, TfL began replacing the entire Dial-a-Ride fleet at a cost of £3.9 million.{{Cite web |last=Standard |first=Evening |date=2012-04-05 |title=Boris Johnson launches the revamped Dial-a-Ride bus |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/mayor/boris-johnson-launches-the-revamped-dialaride-bus-6920761.html |access-date=2024-03-14 |website=Evening Standard |language=en}}

{{As of|2022}}, the fleet comprises 256 accessible vehicles, all Mellor Tucana low floor minibuses, built on the Volkswagen Transporter platform.{{Cite web |last=Pidgeon |first=Caroline |date=2022-05-26 |title=Please state how many buses currently operate for Dial-a-Ride. |url=https://www.london.gov.uk/questions/2022/1729 |access-date=2022-11-04 |website=Mayor's Question Time |quote=There are 256 buses in Dial-a-Ride’s fleet.}} The fleet meets Euro VI emission standards, and therefore is Ultra Low Emission Zone compliant.{{Cite web |date=2018-11-15 |title=London Dial-a-Ride goes green with Mellor |url=https://www.smmt.co.uk/2018/11/london-dial-a-ride-goes-green-with-mellor/ |access-date=2022-11-04 |website=SMMT |language=en-GB}} Historically, a range of vehicles have been used including Mercedes-Benz Sprinter and Vito minibuses.{{Cite web |last=Harvey |first=Lauren |date=2019-07-08 |title=Dial-a-Ride |url=https://www.london.gov.uk/questions/2019/14437 |access-date=2022-11-04 |website=Mayor's Question Time}}

{{Clear}}

The 'Taxicard' scheme provides subsidised taxi 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.{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Taxicard |url=https://www.tfl.gov.uk/modes/taxis-and-minicabs/taxicard-and-capital-call |access-date=2022-11-04 |website=Transport for London|language=en-GB}}

{{Portal|London transport}}

• Accessibility of transport in London
• Paratransit

{{reflist}}

• [https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/dial-a-ride/ London Dial-a-Ride website]

{{Transport in London}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:London Dial-A-Ride}}

Category:Transport organisations based in London

Category:Paratransit services

Category:Transport for London

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