Transport for All has decided to postpone its demonstration on September 14th, called to protest against Transport for London's continuing failure to provide an adequate Dial-a-Ride service.
Since we called the demonstration we have been heartened and inspired by the number of individuals and organisations that have contacted us to offer support. This indicates both the crucial importance of door-to-door transport to the quality of life for disabled and older people; and the level of frustration and anger disabled people feel about this vital but deeply flawed service.
But since we called for this demonstration we have also been in contact with Transport for London and the Mayor's Office at a very senior level. We have been offered talks about a range of issues, and there is a general recognition that in the past there have been promises made, which have not been backed with action, and that this is not good enough.
To rectify this, specifically we have now been offered:
a) SHORT-TERM: A meeting with the new Director of Surface Transport and the new Head of Dial-a-Ride, as well as London Buses' Operational Manager, to discuss the five demands which TfA is backing to improve the service, in the context of a general Dial-a-Ride Users' Charter. We have made it clear that we will not accept anything less than a guarantee of service standards, and we are looking to this meeting to provide a meaningful timetable for implementation, along with realistic discussions about cost implications. There is a general agreement that we need some quick fixes to improve services, and a willingness to engage about how we achieve that.
We have also asked to take along three representatives from other organisations with a significant stake in improvements in Dial-a-Ride, who also have a good grasp of issues of service delivery.
b) MEDIUM TERM: We have been invited by the Mayor's Office to submit proposals for a more thorough-going reform of Dial-a-Ride, so that it can be managed by Transport for London through a proper service-level agreement with an independent contractor who will also engage in a more active way with service users. These reforms are needed to prepare the service for:
c) LONGER TERM: We have been invited by the Mayor's Office to hold regular and direct talks about progress towards an integrated pan-London Door-to-door service. We have expressed our frustration about the slow progress of the Door-to-door review (now in its Seventh Record-Breaking Year!). We believe there is a need for a clear vision of how door-to-door services could and should operate, who they are for, and how they can be managed with the active participation and co-operation of disabled and older people's organisations. We will be arguing that we need a more active engagement of disabled people than the door-to-door review provides, and trying to set a timetable which will move quickly towards these goals. We are all aware that the next Mayoral elections are in 2008, and that there is no guarantee that any half-realised reforms would stick beyond that date under a different incumbent. It is therefore in everyone's interest that we should make significant practical!
progress immediately.
From our talks with Transport for London and the Mayor's Office, we expect an ongoing series of frank and practical meetings out of which will come a timetable for a series of incremental reforms which will both improve services in the short term and move to an integrated pan-London door-to-door service in the longer term. We look to the Mayor's Office to provide the political will to make this happen; we look to Transport for London to provide the funding and the operational expertise to make this happen.
We are well aware that a lot of promises have been made in the past about Dial-a-Ride, and about an integrated pan-London service, which have yet to be delivered. We have issued a clear call that disabled people are running out of patience. By postponing our demonstration we have made a gesture of goodwill, which we expect to be matched by action on the part of TfL and the Mayor's Office.
TfL and the Mayor have already shown their commitment to disabled people by moving towards the biggest fully accessible bus fleet in the world; they have created a 100% increase in usage of the door-to-door Taxicard service by a massive injection of funding and management expertise. We expect the same level of commitment to creating a fully functional Dial-a-Ride service in the short term, and transforming door-to-door services in general in the longer term.
We want timetables, targets, budgets and full hands-on involvement in monitoring these. Our members and our supporters are waiting in the wings....
Faryal Velmi
Campaigns and Media Officer
Transport for All
336 Brixton rd
London
SW9 7AA
Tel - 020 7 7 37 2339
Fax - 020 7 7 37 2231
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No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease, No comfortable feel in any member No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees, No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds, November!
Thomas Hood 1799-1845 English poet
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