ABSTRACT
Transport provision for elderly and disabled people in London is currently made through a variety of modes: door-to-door service is provided by specialised Dial-a-Ride services and taxis, while London Regional Transport’s (LRT’s) lift-equipped “Mobility Buses” offer limited fixed-route services to popular destinations, and LRT’s mainstream buses and Underground services are made available free of charge to elderly and disabled residents through special travel passes. On users’ evaluation of the services, most aspects came out well. For Dial-a-Ride, the familiar problem of booking the service emerged as the most common difficulty, followed by the services not covering a wide enough area. On matters of punctuality, ease of use of vehicles and fares, the responses were overwhelmingly favourable. For both Dial-a-Ride and Taxicard members, ordinary bus accounted for more journeys than any one of the special services. The exception was the Mobility Bus group, who used that service for the majority of their trips, though ordinary bus was still very important.
