Dial‐a‐ride

Abstract

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.

The social lives of rural Australian nursing home residents

“…This might involve negotiations with the local community transport providers in the area to examine the specific needs of nursing home visitors. A further possibility is the introduction of dial-a-ride services similar to those currently offered in the USA (Roberts and London 2007). This service involves a call centre for elderly people, which co-ordinates volunteer drivers who are rostered to transport the frail elderly.…”