People across south Oxfordshire who find it difficult to use public transport will benefit from a dial-a-ride service being launched next year.
A public consultation on the funding and provision of dial-a-ride services ended on Saturday, having racked nearly 600 responses from users of the services in other parts of the county.
South Oxfordshire does not currently have a service of its own. However, two district services are in operation elsewhere – the Octabus, which serves west Oxfordshire, Oxford City and the Vale of White Horse, and Cherwell dial-a-ride.
Neil Timberlake, assistant public transport officer for Oxfordshire County Council, told the Oxfordshire Guardian: “Basically, the purpose of the consultation was to give us a steer towards the design and the scope of the service.
“What's happened in the past is that we have entered into funding arrangements with the district councils to jointly provide for dial-a-ride services in the area. What's changing now is that we will fund a baseline service across the whole county, regardless of any district council funding.
“The funding that we have available is around £160,000 for the baseline service across the whole county. It will then be up to each district council to top up the service.”
If South Oxfordshire District Council chooses to top up the baseline funding provided by the council, it will be able to secure a longer period of service availability each day or provide a daily service, or add to the number of buses available to provide services in that district. If they don't, a limited service will still run.
Rachelle Kennedy, spokesperson for Age UK Oxfordshire, said: “We are delighted with the decision to introduce the dial-a-ride service to south Oxfordshire.
“It is a highly valued and important service for many older and disabled people in the county, helping people to keep mobile and preventing loneliness and isolation of people who are unable to use public transport.
“A lifeline for many, we must make sure that there is a decent availability of concessionary travel throughout the county, and that other areas of Oxfordshire are not negatively affected by changes to the dial-a-ride service.”
The dial-a-ride service is a pre-booked, door-to-door, wheelchair-accessible public transport scheme for disabled and mobility-impaired people who either cannot use conventional public transport or who find it very difficult to use. The results of the consultation will be published by November 30 and a decision on the delivery of the service will be decided by January next year.
