What is Cambridge Dial-a-Ride?

Cambridge Dial-a-Ride is a charitable organisation which provides transport for groups and individuals who otherwise have difficulty accessing public transport. It offers this service on week days in the City of Cambridge and the villages immediately bordering the city, and on specified week days from neighbouring villages in South and East Cambridgeshire.

Who can use Cambridge Dial-a-ride?

We offer our services to anybody within our area who is over 16 years old and who has difficulty using public transport because of disability, infirmity, or age.

Cambridge Dial-a-Ride's operating licence requires us to function as a membership organisation. If you are interested in what we offer, we ask you to begin by applying for membership and to specify what particular difficulties we can help you overcome.

Where can I go?

We offer County residents the opportunity to travel from their village into Cambridge and City of Cambridge residents the chance to travel around the city for a wide range of purposes.

Many people use the service to go to day centres or community groups in and around the city. We can drive you to doctors� or dentists� surgeries or to a hairdresser�s appointment, but we can also take you to the main shopping areas in Cambridge, to visit friends or relatives, or simply give you the chance to have an outing for a change. We liaise with Cambridge Shopmobility who can provide manual and electric wheelchairs and an escort service around the Grafton Centre and around the Grand Arcade and city centre.

On specific days we arrange group travel to most of the big supermarkets in and around the city: see City Service.

What happens if I need help?

Cambridge Dial-a-ride minibuses are equipped to make it easier for everybody to use them. All buses have lifts for wheelchair users and those who have difficulty using steps.

Our drivers stop as near as possible to your front door so that you can wait for us in the comfort and safety of your home. The drivers will also help to get you safely to and from your bus, and they are happy to carry any bags you may want to take with you. You only have to let the driver know what assistance you need.

Can I bring a friend?

You may bring a friend or family member as your official escort, and we charge an additional fare for them. Guide dogs and help dogs are obviously also welcome and travel without charge, although other pets and animals are not normally carried.

How much do I pay?

Cambridge Dial-a-ride is obliged to operate as a membership organisation. As a result you must apply to become a member and pay an annual membership fee. Once you are a member you pay a fixed fare for each single or return journey, which the driver collects at the time of your journey.

Thanks to support from Cambridgeshire County Council we are now able to offer concessonary fares to both City and County residents who hold and are able to present a current City or County Council bus pass. Fare concessions are also available to all members who are registered as visually impaired.

If you travel with an escort, we charge an aditional fare for them: this fare does not, however, attract any subsidy from the County Council.

How do I apply for Cambridge Dial-a-ride membership?

You or somebody on your behalf can contact Cambridge Dial-a-Ride to request an application form. Alternatively you can use the printable application form which can be completed and returned to us at the address on the form.

Return the form to Cambridge Dial-a-Ride with the annual membership fee. We can then enrol you as a member of Cambridge Dial-a-Ride for twelve months.

How do I book a journey?

As a member living in the City of Cambridge and in those villages which we include in the City Service, you are eligible to use the service each day of the working week (Monday � Friday).

If you live in a village where Cambridge Dial-a-Ride offers its County Service, our service is available on a specified day.

We ask you to book with Cambridge Dial-a-ride in advance, where the telephone is normally manned Monday-Friday 09.00-15.00 (9am-3pm). Outside these times you will find an answer-phone for your booking requests. Speaking slowly and clearly you can either give us your name and address and details of your planned journey or simply leave your name and telephone number and ask us to call you back.

We ask you to give us as much notice as possible of your travel needs, and you can book up to six days in advance of your day of travel. However, if you want to travel at short notice, telephone us, we will make every effort to accommodate you. Of course, if you are not able to travel as you had planned, we do ask you to make every effort to cancel well in advance.

Can my community group use Cambridge Dial-a-ride?

And if I have other questions?

What help does Cambridge Dial-a-ride need?

If you are reading this as an able-bodied individual who knows how others look to us for help, you might like to think about helping Cambridge Dial-a-Ride as a volunteer. We are always eager to hear from people who may wish to work as a volunteer driver, although you will appreciate that we do need to be selective in terms of volunteers' personality and the status of their driving licence. Contact Cambridge Dial-a-Ride if you would like to consider working with us.

Cambridge Dial-a-ride is financed through membership fees and fares. However, we also receive generous support from our regular funding agencies, to whom we are very grateful, as we are to the many other groups who make occasional donations. If you know of any group who would like to support Cambridge Dial-a-Ride financially, please contact us.

We are also delighted to receive support in the form of financial donations. If you know of any group or individual who would like to support Cambridge Dial-a-Ride in money or kind, please contact the Cambridge Dial-a-Ride office.

Cambridge Dial-a-Ride receives core funding through fares and fees from members and through recurring grants from Cambridge City and Cambridgeshire County Councils, South Cambridgeshire and East Cambridgeshire District Councils and Cambridgeshire NHS Primary Care Trust.