General Chat

Last night my daughter who had been in town volunteering unfortunately missed her bus at 6pm home. Someone waited with her until she could actually get a taxi as they were in short supply at this time of day!

However, she managed to find one and when she arrived, she ran indoors to ask if I had any cash in the house? I gave her £30. Once she came back into the house, she said the fare was £50!!! This was a journey of 21 miles that took 40 minutes.

Only in August at 6.30 am we did this trip and was only £40 then for an early start as during the day its between £30-£35.

I have just rung the council only to be told, sorry that is correct as the fares have been increased very recently.

So now if I want a trip to town, it will cost me £100! We are going away mid Nov at 6.30 am so I'm guessing it will be around £60 going and £50 coming back.

I know fuel has gone up, but it would cost less than £20 for the whole journey in a private car.

So, on that basis. doesn't look like I will be able to afford a day out in town very often!

Florence in the Hebrides

It is expensive but then again it’s not just the cost of fuel for the journey but the overheads of running the car plus the drivers time etc

He won’t make a living if he just charges the cost of fuel

I am dreading when I have to give up driving because even though I live in a small town in Kent you really need your own transport to get around

Yes, Shirley that's the problem. people who live nearer towns with buses every 20-30 minutes have no idea how people who live more rural get around. It's only when you become unable to drive you realise how isolated you become.

I know they have overheads and insurance etc to cover.

Local council here only provide little minibuses because mostly less than 20 people use the bus at any given time except when tourists are here during the summer. But these old buses do not cater for those who have mobility issues so, no ramps on to the bus.

If I could use a bus, I would probably go 3 times a week to town just for fresh air and a change of scenery and to be amongst others.

I just got such a shock over the taxi fayre charges!

Florence in the Hebrides

Would the lack of transport for disabled people be discrimination under the disability act?

Apparently under the Disability act only buses with more than 22 seats have to provide a ramp in order to assist people who have mobility problems. Minibuses with less are exempt!

Local councils here decide the timetable which is usually determined by the number of people using the service. Hence some services were reduced if only a few people were using that particular service.

So, lack of transport for disabled people I don't think is included. Some buses are run by local council and some by private companies, a mixture.

Personally, I feel disabled people are being discriminated by not having a service to use in this area but there are a lot less people than in the bigger towns etc.