Dial-a-Ride ready for the big time
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IF PLANS now being formulated for demandresponsive Dial-a-Ride bus services come to fruition the system will be operating soon on a nationwide basis. Plans for the service, which is the brainchild of Ford, are now being studied in the following areas:
Harlow — should he in operation later this summer.
Maidstone — a major extension to the existing service is being planned.
Eastbourne — an application to extend the present services to a much larger
area has been made here too.
Merseyside six separate areas are being studied to establish the potential for Dial-a-Ride services.
Littlehampton — a system is being considered.
London Transport — vehicles have been delivered ready for service in Hampstead Garden Suburb but start delayed indefinitely because of driver shortage.
Corby — system being considered.
Yeovil service being
planned based on the railway station.
Eastern Counties — the world's first rural Dial-aRide service being considered for an area south of Peterborough, provided a local authority subsidy is forthcoming.
More than 30 such services are now operating in North America where the system is said to be beyond the experimental phase. Britain's most successful service is at Carterton, near Oxford, where one vehicle is carrying 15 passengers per bus-hour, or more than 750 per week.