London’s door-to-door transport services under review

Is the much-maligned Dial-a-Ride service actually getting any better? And will integrating door-to-door services lead to improvements for the half a million Londoners with mobility impairments?

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Our review

The Transport Committee is reviewing the progress made on addressing immediate service problems, as well as assessing proposals to create a more coordinated, borough-led door-to-door transport service.

Building on the previous Dial-a-Ride investigation, the Committee will look at the recent performance of the Dial-a-Ride service to establish whether Transport for London’s (TfL) efforts to improve it are paying off. Following a heated public debate with Dial-a-Ride users and TfL in March last year, the Committee wrote to the Mayor highlighting problems with the service including a lack of availability, poor punctuality and long call waiting times. At the time, a survey of 200 Dial-a-Ride users showed 40 per cent of respondents rated the service as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’ and the Committee will assess whether things are any better a year on.

The Committee’s investigation will also assess London Councils’ plans to integrate door-to-door transport services in order to address problems experienced by users. Integration is seen as a possible solution to criticism of the variation in quality and lack of coordination of door-to-door transport services, which include Dial-a-Ride, Taxicard, CapitalCall, and a range of NHS and borough transport services. However, integrating services from different providers that work to different eligibility criteria and service levels will be challenging.

The Committee aims to make recommendations to the Mayor, TfL and London Councils as appropriate for any further action to take to help improve door-to-door transport services.

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