One of the worst things about being disabled is the loneliness. Able‐bodied people do not have to wait for busy friends to find time to visit them. They can get on to a bus or a tube or a train and go visiting, or to the shops or a cinema or club, as the mood takes them. If you are in a wheelchair, you can't. You will get taken to hospital or a day centre or to your doctor, if need be, but nowhere for fun.
The idea has arisen in several countries that there should be a special service for people with disabilities, who cannot use public transport and cannot drive or use friends' cars. This would be the equivalent of what taxis provide for the able‐bodied — the possibility of getting out and going where you want, when you want, when there is no public transport, or car, available to take you.
ERICA (European Research Into Consumer Affairs) is engaged in research into problems faced, notably by the underprivileged, in the countries of the European Economic Community (EEC). An early project investigated dial-a-ride systems for the transport of disabled people in six EEC countries. The object was to discover their successes and failures and pass on the information. In spite of national differences, many of the problems were the same. So, since the aim of all ERICA's research is action, the first step has been to publish guidelines for any voluntary organization or local authority aiming to set up a dial-a-ride.
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